Why Johnny Coder Doesn't Read

I ran across a blog post today about how most software developers don't read. This is noteworthy because the technology for writing software innovates at a very high rate. How can today's coders keep up if they don't read about new technology? The article conflicts itself about whether or not developers learn about new technology online instead of through books. The major reason given as to why coders don't read books is the lack of quality in the content of the books being published. The author then gives some recommendations for books that he believes coders should read.

I totally agree on the quality issue. Most books on writing software simply stink. They are all about screen shots and "click here, type this" descriptions from the lowest paid geek that the publishing house can find. There are some good books out there written by quality writers but they are in the minority.

Quality isn't the only reason why coders don't read books. Economics is another. The fast pace of innovation dramatically reduces the shelf life of most books on programming that are specific to a particular technology. Microsoft produces a major release of .NET about once every year. Sun Microsystems releases a major release of Java about every two years. The corresponding after market books go for $50 to $75 (USD) a pop. Add to that the fact that the project you are working on most probably won't be able to upgrade to the new version and you quickly find yourself coming to the conclusion that purchasing these books don't have a good ROI.

Another reason why programming books aren't being read by coders is learning modality. Everyone has different experiences which affect how they learn. So, everyone learns differently. What order that facts are presented in a teaching environment affects learning efficacy on a per student basis. Books can't change the order that facts are presented but web sites can because the reader interacts with the content in his or her navigation choices. Obviously, the traditional classroom setting is also sufficiently interactive enough such that a good teacher can get the message across to his motivated students effectively.

I totally agree with the author's book recommendations. Those are some great books to read. You will be a better coder for reading them. In addition to these, permit me to recommend a few more. You may not be a C coder but do read Kernighan and Pike's The Practice of Programming which gives you a great taste for the craft of writing quality code. Most business level development these days is object oriented. If you do anything even similar to object oriented programming, then you owe it to yourself and your employer to read Design Patterns by Gamma, Helm, Johnson, and Vlissides (a.k.a GoF). These two books have a very long shelf life.

Why don't I recommend more books than these? Because, like I said before, people are different. Different strokes for different folks. The book that really does it for me may not work for you. So, get thee to the bookstore (physical or virtual) and leaf through what is available. Look at the writer's style. Pick a topic of interest from the table of contents and read the introductory paragraph. Rinse and repeat until you find the book that you feel is the most lucid and educational for you.

You may be unclear as to what topics that you should be reading about. Well, most modern business application developers should be interested in data access. It is very likely that you will be coding web applications so you should be quite hip to the following standards; HTTP, HTML, SOAP, and CSS. Another interesting platform neutral topic is AOP.

As far as platform specific reading, again, find the right book for you. Looking over my own bookshelf, I can't help but notice the following publishers keep appearing over and over again; O'Reilly, Addison Wesley, Apress, and Prentice Hall Professional. Not a lot here from Wrox or SAMS to be honest. I'm on the fence with IDG, Manning and McGraw Hill. I only have two books from New Riders but they are both good.

Software architects need to go the extra distance to read about competing platforms. Why? How can you make the right choice if you aren't aware of the alternatives? If you don't like to read, then don't become a software architect. Go here for a good list of buzzwords to start your reading list with.