Reading List

Architecture and Design

Architecture

Fundamentals of Software Architecture: An Engineering Approach, by Mark Richards and Neal Ford. The book is specifically targeting a developer that is looking to change career path and become an architect. The book starts with architecture fundamentals putting a reader into architects’ way of reasoning. Next part describes different architecture styles, advantages and disadvantages of each and rates every architecture style based on elaborate set of characteristics. One size doesn’t fit all, therefore different architecture styles are preferred in different circumstances. The third and last part talks about soft skill that an architect need to poses or develop to become successful. Soft skills were not under the spotlight withing the industry before, so this part is quite interesting in this sense. The book is great starting point to learn about software architecture and the role of architect. I would definitely recommend the book for reading to all software engineers, even if they are not seeking to become an architect. The book will help to better understand software architecture and design principles and become more conscious and aware of important architecture decisions made by architects.

Patterns

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software, by the Gang Of Four. Very well structured book that describes veriety of patterns, where to apply and how to implement each of them. It is a fundamental book for every Software Engineer, even if the one does not practice Object Oriented Programming. A small downside might be that code examples are in C++ and Smalltalk, however clear description and UML diagrams make it easy to comprehend even without knowing the languages above.

Domain-Driven Design

	Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software, by Eric Evans. Great book to start with DDD. Explains complicated concepts in easy to understand fashion with real-life examples.
	Implementing Domain-Driven Design, by Vaughn Vernon. Goes deeper into DDD and focuses on applying DDD while designing and implementing software.

Microservices

	Monolith to Microservices: Evolutionary Patterns to Transform Your Monolith, by Sam Newman.
	Microservices Patterns: With examples in Java, by Chris Richardson.
	Building Event-Driven Microservices: Leveraging Distributed Large-Scale Data, by Adam Bellemare.
	Design & Build Great Web APIs, by Mike Amundsen.

Soft Skills

	How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie. If you are new to the concept of soft-skill and self improvement, this is THE Book to start with. Even though it was written long time ago, the concept are timeless as they all about human nature. It is a great book to start with, because every concept is explained in a form of a story. The book does not go too deep into philosophical discussions but rather provides actionable advices that you can start applying immediately. Start with this book!
	Maximum Achievement: Strategies and Skills That Will Unlock Your Hidden Powers to Succeed, by Brian Tracy. After Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends” this is second book I recommend reading over once a year.it is a great summary of so many concepts humans operate by. It is full of practical and actionable advices. Every chapter has an exercise for a reader to do, so life changing experience starts immediately. To internalize the concepts deeper I would recommend to read habits building books first.
	Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time, by Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz. The book talk about importance of relationships with other people, ways and techniques to establish and maintain relationships that could dramatically impact your life in a positive way. This book is great if you are looking for way to grow your network.
	Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions, by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths. Hands down, this book is great for people from Computer Science or Mathematical fields. If you are one of these who applies algorithms, like sorting and caching, to organize your closet – you are not along in this world 😊. The book describes a connection between real life and how computers operate. It shows a way to apply well known algorithms to solve day to day challenges.

Habits

	Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by James Clear. Building life habits is hard, so the book provides a framework on how to take bad habits under control and replace them with the habits you want to have. It is a great book to start working on adjusting your habits. If I was to choose a single book about habits, this would most likely be the one.
	The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg. If you’d like to change your habits, this is the book to start with. Every day life of an individual is driven by habits, therefore quality of life very much depends on the quality of habits the one poses. If you need to change life, start with changing your habits. This book explains how habits mechanism works and suggests a framework for shaping your habits the way you want. The book reads easily and contains a lot of content-supporting stories that make it easy to digest.
	The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, by Stephen R. Covey. The book describes 7 principles that can make a person effective in his/her life if the principles are made into day to day habits. Some people may find it little boring or full of clichés, but personally I found a lot of useful advices and interesting concepts to apply.

Brain

Evolve Your Brain: The Science of Changing Your Mind, by Joe Dispenza D.C. If you are curious how humans brain works, this book is the one to read. It describes brain structure, responsibilities of different brain parts and how they relate to each other. The book describes principles, gives suggestions and shares approaches to hack the brain and make it work for you.

More books are coming…