r/AskProgramming · 2022
Most-mentioned books in r/AskProgramming during 2022
This page ranks books by exact tracked mentions in r/AskProgramming within the published source unit for 2022. Counts come from the reconciled subreddit-by-month matrix; a source unit may be a bounded sample.
#1 The Art of Computer Programming
Donald E. Knuth
Donald Knuth's multi-volume monument to algorithms: the book programmers cite in library lists and almost nobody finishes.
#2 Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software
Charles Petzold
A retired software engineer builds a computer from telegraph relays and flashlights, one chapter at a time, until you understand what a CPU actually does.
#3 Working Effectively with Legacy Code
Michael C. Feathers
Michael Feathers wrote the book for the developer who just inherited 30 devs' worth of code across 5 years in 5 different styles and has to ship next quarter.
#4 Clean Code
Robert C. Martin
The book 536 Reddit threads cite when arguing about naming variables — revered by beginners, argued over by seniors.
#5 Code Complete
Steve McConnell
Steve McConnell's 900-page construction manual for software, ranked third on Reddit's canonical reading list and still cited 25 years after publication.
#6 Designing Data-Intensive Applications
Martin Kleppmann
A backend engineer's field guide to the tradeoffs behind every database, queue, and distributed system you will ever touch.
#7 Modern Software Engineering
David Farley
Dave Farley argues that software engineering is a discipline with repeatable principles — 73 Reddit threads mostly shrug, then mostly agree.
#8 Refactoring
Martin Fowler
Martin Fowler's catalog of named moves for cleaning up code that already works, cited 116 times across Reddit in 7 years as the Clean Code alternative people actually prefer.
#9 Software Engineering at Google
Titus Winters
Google engineers document how a 25,000-person org ships software that has to last decades — the distinction between 'programmer' and 'engineer' is the whole argument.
#10 The Clean Coder
Robert C. Martin
Uncle Bob's professionalism manual: say no to bad estimates, refuse death marches, and work the 40 hours then study on your own time.