Showstopper!: The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft

I'd say anything that inspires you to move to a career that focuses on engineering, that you cannot get away by being half-ass, is a good book. I recommend two books, none of them is technical. "Showstopper! The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft" and "The soul of a new machine". Once you put yourself at the edge of knife, everything you want comes naturally, because you either swim or die.

A short list of books that cost some candles after I reached 40 (has been very picky about books since then). I not only read them into late night but also went back to them whenever I need some mental boost. - The Soul of a New Machine - Showstoppers - iWoz - Athens and Jerusalem (Shestov) I'm devouring many F & SFs (right now reading Arthur Clarke) but so far nothing really sticks. A lot of them are interesting but I'm keeping counting the pages I read. I used to burn candles reading them back in the day, but the magic was lost. I'm going to try out some recommendations I got on HN and see what happens.

If we're recommending Showstopper (which I do), I'd add Soul of a New Machine about Data General, where I worked for many years--but a bit later.

Showstopper! - G. Pascal Zachary https://www.amazon.com/Showstopper-Breakneck-Windows-Generat... (https://www.amazon.com/Showstopper-Breakneck-Windows-Generation-Microsoft-ebook/dp/B00J5X5E9U/)

I can also recommend Showstoppers. One thing I thought was interesting is that Dave Cutler swore by taking his vacations on time, every time. It's a stark contrast to the "hustle" culture you sometimes hear, given how highly regarded he is at his profession

The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder. Probably the best book on product development ever written. Command Line Heroes podcast on it: https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-4/minic... (https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-4/minicomputers) (Disclosure: I work for Red Hat) Also worth checking out in this vein is Showstopper about the development of Windows NT which focuses on the role of Dave Cutler.

_Showstopper_ One of the best tech books, after _Soul of a New Machine_ (recommended in the comments, too). Covers Microsoft's creation of Windows NT. _DEC is Dead. Long Live DEC_ about the rise and fall of Digital Equipment Corporation. _Skunkworks_ Lockheed-Martin's creation of the SR-71. _Moneyball_ using math to build a top flight US baseball team. Broadening the category a bit: _The Smartest Guys in the Room_ is about Enron's collapse. Not directly related to computer tech but definitely tech and people. _Billion Dollar Lessons_ covers several spectacular company failures. Again, not strictly tech related but amazing stories of crash & burn. Includes (IIRC) Iridium, Kodak, IBM.

Non-fiction but I love "Showstopper" about Dave Cutler and Windows NT 1.0. There's a great little story in there about a developer's months-long struggle to draw a Window onscreen for the first time from scratch. I loved the descriptions of how they coded up everything from bare metal. As you'll see, Dave Cutler is one of those rare firebrands.

-Showstopper by G. Pascal Zachary -The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman -UNIX in a Nutshell (O'Reilly book written by Arnold Robbins)