Favorite Computer Books

I believe all good developers should keep up to date with technology, and one good way to do this is to read technical books. I realize there is a lot of information available on the internet these days, and many people think they can get everything they need from there. However, for some topics, a well-written book is a much better option. With that, here's a list of books that have been useful and/or influential in my programming career:

• Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction by Steve McConnell is a must-read for any serious developer. It goes into all aspects of code construction, beginning with requirements, and including writing code, reviewing code, debugging code, etc. I've bought both the 1st and 2nd editions, and read them multiple times.
  
• CLR via C#, Second Edition (Pro Developer)by Jeffery Richter. This goes into how and why the CLR and .Net framework do things. If you want a deeper understanding of what is going on "under the hood" in your programs, this book will give it to you. It goes into detail about garbage collection, exceptions, reflection, and much more.
• Programming Perl (3rd Edition) by Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen, and Jon Orwant. Even if you're a .Net programmer, Perl can be a useful addition to your toolbox. If you've ever needed to reformat or otherwise process large text files, Perl is just the thing. It is usually quicker to code up a quick Perl script to work with a file than it would be to write something in C# or VB.Net. I've been using Perl since version 4, and I can't imagine doing without it.
• Perl Cookbook, Second Edition by Tom Christiansen and Nathan Torkington. Once you've learned the basics of Perl, this book can help you with specific tasks you may need to accomplish. It has hundreds of "recipes" that not only provide working code, but help you to learn by example. An excellent companion to Programming Perl.
• 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 and More Joel on Software: Further Thoughts on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and ... Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity (Pro) by Joel Spolsky. These two books collect some of Joel's best articles from his Joel on Software site. Sure, you can read them online for free, but I feel that having them collected in book form is worth the cost. Joel has a lot of knowledge about developing software and running a software company, and whether you agree with everything he says or not, he is worth listening to.
• Writing Solid Code: Microsoft's Techniques for Developing Bug-Free C Programs (Microsoft Programming Series) by Steve Maguire. This one is old, and I think it is out of print, but it had a huge influence on me early in my career. Maquire talks about various things he did during his time at Microsoft to help make the products he was responsible for more bug-free. It focuses mainly on C, but a lot of the lessons can be carried to other languages.
• Head First Design Patterns (Head First) by Elisabeth Freeman, Eric Freeman, Bert Bates and Kathy Sierra. I read the original Design Patterns book, but had a hard time with it, and never really "got it". It wasn't until I read this book that I started to realize exactly what design patterns were and how they could help me in my coding. It presents the material in a fun, easy to read format that makes learning much easier.
  

Note that several of these books are not focused on a specific technology, and thus won't go out of date as soon as a lot of computer books will. I think that's important when deciding what books to buy, especially if you're on a budget. Try and find a book that will last more than the year or so that many tightly-focused books will.