The Best Software Writing I

Here's another idea: Since your friend is coming out in 9 months anyway and there's so much risk involved in trying to sneak in a programming book, he should probably spend his time developing another equally useful skill: writing well. As many other successful programmers have noted (Spolsky, Yegge) and demonstrated, effective communication, especially through writing, is a very useful and necessary skill for a programmer. So, maybe you should send him just some good books on writing well. In general books, I can think of Strunk and White, On Writing (by Stephen King). But some examples of good writing about programming could also help: The Best Software Writing (edited by Spolsky) Joel on Software (the best articles from his blog) Steve Yegge's blog posts (others might disagree but I think he is an excellent writer). Paul Graham's essays raganwald's old blog - http://weblog.raganwald.com/ James Hague's blog - http://prog21.dadgum.com/ Rands in Repose - http://randsinrepose.com/

* The Pragmatic Programmer * Becoming a Technical Leader * In Search of Stupidity * Hackers & Painters * Blockbusters * Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity * The Best Software Writing I * Behind Closed Doors * Managing Humans * The Mythical Man-Month * Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams * The Non-Designers Design Book * Founders at Work * Good to Great * Dreaming in Code * The Art of the Start * Maverick * The Design of Everyday Things * The Art of Project Management * The Art of Innovation