where to start

Implementing Lean Software Development: From Concept to Cash. Mary Poppendieck, Tom Poppendieck.The Poppendiecks' second book, and the place to start. Does a brilliant job of relating Lean principles into the software world. (Al Shalloway)

Lean Thinking : Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, Revised and Updated. James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones. A great book that gives the perspective of speed, quality and low cost.

essential

The Leader's Handbook: Making Things Happen, Getting Things Done. Peter Scholtes. This is truly an amazing book and gives a ground up view of Lean. It is based on the notion that if systems cause our problems then leaders need to improve the systems instead of trying to motivate people. Totally brilliant. The only reason I don't suggest starting here is it is more foundational than most people like, but it is not a bad place to start.

Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit for Software Development Managers. Mary Poppendieck, Tom Poppendieck A great book relating Agile Design / Manufacturing to the software field. Lots of insights. Overlaps a little with their latest book but is still definitely worth reading.

Creating A Lean Culture: Tools To Sustain Lean Conversions. Mann. An essential read if you are transitioning a company to Lean and/or Agile. Makes the case that Lean Management is critical to any such transition. If you've ever wondered what middle managers do in a Lean enterprise, this book will answer your questions.

The Toyota Way. Jeffrey Liker. Great anecdotal evidence of why Lean works and why it fails when it does.

The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production-- Toyota's Secret Weapon in the Global Car Wars That Is Now Revolutionizing World Industry. Womack, Jones, Roos.

Lean Product and Process Development. Allen Ward. This book was highly recommended by Tom Poppendieck and that's enough for me. Involved a lot more with product development including set based development. Somewhat advanced, but extremely thought provoking.

Software by Numbers: Low-Risk, High-Return Development. Mark Denne, Jane Cleland-Huang.

useful

Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production. Taiichi Ono. First description of Just In Time Manufacturing. This book not only gives a great description of the essentials of the Toyota Lean Manufacturing System, it is an inspiring tale of a person committed to changing the perception of his heritage (the Japanese) in a positive way. To me, Ohno had the inspiration, vision, commitment and humanity of one of our great leaders of the 20th century. He just did it in a business setting.

Lean Solutions: How Companies and Customers Can Create Value and Wealth Together. James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones.

Product Development for the Lean Enterprise: Why Toyota's System Is Four Times More Productive and How You Can Implement It. Michael N. Kennedy. This deals with the Toyota Product Development System (as opposed to their manufacturing system. It also compares lean to a knowledge based system which gives lots of insights.

The New Lean Toolbox, Third Edition. John Bicheno. This is probably the most comprehensive guide available to the full range of Lean tools and concepts. It serves as a stand-alone guide, or as a supplement to Womack and Jones' Lean Thinking.

Managing the Design Factory. Donald G. Reinertsen.

Agile Management for Software Engineering: Applying the Theory of Constraints for Business Results. Anderson. Brilliant, though at times spotty on accuracy. Still a great read for ideas.

The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook: A Quick Reference Guide to 100 Tools for Improving Quality and Speed. George, Maxey, Rowlands, Price. Lean Six Sigma is today's leading technique to maximize production efficiency and maintain control over each step in the managerial process. With this toolbook, you'll discover how to propel your organization to new levels of competitive success--one tool at a time.

related to lean

Deming management method. Walton. Deming is the basis for Lean. Understanding Deming is critical to understanding how to teach lean. Unfortunately, one book will not teach you about Deming’s management method. Deming is the American who taught the Japanese about quality 40+ years ago when we weren’t interested. Japan has become an economic powerhouse mostly because of him. A clear book, but you must be willing to throw away some long held and cherished beliefs about management.

Goal, The.Goldratt, Cox. The first and still best book on the Theory of Constraints.

Critical Chain : A Business Novel. Goldratt. Not necessary to read. Can web search on theory of constraints to get enough on Theory of Constraints.

• Implementing Lean Software Development: From Concept to Cash (20 copies)
• Lean Thinking : Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation (5 copies)
• The Leader's Handbook: Making Things Happen, Getting Things Done (10 copies)
• Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit for Software Development Managers (10 copies)
• Creating A Lean Culture: Tools To Sustain Lean Conversions (5 copies)
• The Toyota Way (2 copies)
• The Machine That Changed the World (2 copies)
• Lean Product and Process Development (2 copies)
• Software by Numbers: Low-Risk, High-Return Development (4 copies)

Note: The number of copies represents how many people I suspect will actually read it. Any book with 10 or more copies would be worth giving to everybody, but I am trying to be budget minded.

essential

Writing Effective Use Cases. Alistair Cockburn. We have always liked use cases but do not like Rational's heavy way of using them with the UML. Alistair gives a great way to use use cases in a textual format that is much more efficient and effective than the RUP (Rational Unified Approach).

useful

Patterns for Effective Use Cases. Adolph & Bramble, et. al. An excellent supplement for those familiar with Use Cases.

essential

Managing Transitions, 2nd Edition: Making the Most of Change (Your Coach in a Box). William Bridges. This is Michael Kennedy's number one recommendation by far for small groups or individuals. Also, the favorite of one of our associates who is an expert in this field. I've (Alan Shalloway) just read it and agree wholeheartedly.

Organizational Transitions: Managing Complex Change. Beckhard and Harris. This book is also recommended by Michael Kennedy. It is very good for larger scale change

useful

The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook. Has a lot of helpful ideas

essential

Common Knowledge: How Companies Thrive by Sharing What They Know. Nancy Dixon. An essential introduction to knowledge management. Very practical examples and approaches. This book is especially helpful for managers and executives wanting to understand how to get started and what others have done. No hype.

essential

The One Thing You Need to Know: ... About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success. Marcus Buckingham. A phenomenal book that I believe is a must read for all individuals, whether they be managers or leaders. Although I haven't read any of Marcus Buckingham's other books, I suspect they are all worth reading and have them on my short list.

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't. Jim Collins.A fabulous book that should be required for all leaders and managers.

Managing the Unexpected: Assuring High Performance in an Age of Complexity. Weick, Sutcliffe. This is a great book about High Reliability Organizations (HROs) such as aircraft carrier flight decks. That alone makes it an interesting read. It discusses how these organizations create mindfulness and how you can create that in your organization. Ironically, it illustrates how reliance on planning and prediction create mindlessness.

useful

The Living Company. Aire de Geus. Recommended by Tom Poppendieck. "Most companies today are what he calls economic companies operated for the economic benefit of a privileged few. Employees are simply paid for time, the company is not for them or about them. Economic companies typically have very sort lifetimes before they collapse or are absorbed – on the order of 40 years, the tenure of a single set of managers. Some companies live for centuries because they are based on a different set of values. They respect their stakeholders rather than exploit them; decisions are made with the mutual benefit of the company, the employees, and other stakeholders as their context."

Winning. Jack Welch. This is a good book for managers. Not a great book, but gives lots of good ideas.

The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market. Treacy, Wiersema. Very useful for leaders to set the direction and focus of a company.

The Minding Organization: Bring the Future to the Present and Turn Creative Ideas into Business Solutions. Moshe F. Rubinstein, Iris R. Firstenberg

Dealing with Darwin: How Great Companies Innovate at Every Phase of Their Evolution. Geoffrey Moore. Haven't read this yet, but Mary Poppendieck includes this in her course and that's good enough for me.

essential

Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams. DeMarco and Lister. A brilliant book about teams and environments (people environments, not computer environments). Shows you how many companies are penny wise and pound foolish around the work environment and what you can do about it. Very important insights about creating teams as well.
 

useful

Waltzing With Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects. DeMarco and Lister. Great book on how to measure and handle risk.

essential

Agile Estimating and Planning. Mike Cohn. A brain dump of one of the best in the business.

essential if doing Scrum

Agile Project Management with Scrum. Ken Schwaber and Mike Beedle A great book and an interesting read. If you are interested in agile development this book is another must read

Agile Software Development. Alistair Cockburn. Brilliant book. Not just about methodologies and why we shouldn't get attached to particular approaches, but also about communication challenges we face.

Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change (2nd Edition). Kent Beck. If you can't read the whole book, at least read the 30 pages we recommend This gives a great explanation of the philosophy of XP as well as a solid description of the planning game. For an overview of the planning game see our own: The Planning Game

essential

Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. Ries and Trout. This book presents simple, clear, intuitive concepts about how to position your product. A classic, yet still relevant.

SPIN Selling. Rackham. "Sales" has a bad rap. You don't need to sell like a used car salesman. You can "sell" your idea to a client or prospect treating the person as if he were a beloved family member. This is called consultative sales. This book is the best I have seen on how to do it.

essential

Are Your Lights On?: How to Figure Out What the Problem Really Is. Gerald Weinberg, Donald C. Gause fun. This is a quick read that is both fun and educational.

Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully. Gerald Weinberg This let me know many things that I've been doing wrong. Paradigm shifting.

essential

Stopping: How to Be Still When You Have to Keep Going. Kundtz. This is one of my favorite books. As a recovering workaholic (yes, no joke) I understand compulsive, overworking behavior. This book has been great in helping me maintain calm in the midst of my busy work/life style. Just as importantly, it has helped make my work effective because I now focus on what is more effective.

Think and Grow Rich. Napolean Hill. An awful title because it makes you think the book is about money. It is, but it is more about how to create the life you want. All things being equal in my life, I’d rather have a big balance in my checking account. In other words, my life is not about money, but money does let me do some things I can’t without it. I attribute much of my successful consulting and training company to this book. It definitely gave me insights into how to move forward in life that have been invaluable. Best to use this book with other significant friends. Reading a chapter and meeting once a week works great. However, they must be dear friends where you can be totally honest with each other.

Unlimited Wealth: The Theory and Practice of Economic Alchemy. Pilzer. This is a paradigm shaking book that is unfortunately out of print. It essentially demolishes the theories that most of our understanding of economics is based on. Aside from explaining why we can (and should) have an attitude of abundance, he tells us where to look for new opportunities. This is an out of print book, but you can get it on Amazon.

essential

Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code. Fowler, Martin. This is a brilliant book It talks about what makes good code and how to improve bad code. It also gives great insights into how emergent design a la XP can work.

Agile Software Development, Principles, Patterns, and Practices. Robert Martin. An excellent introduction to how your can program well in an agile environment. Incorporate XP test-first techniques with excellent coding styles and qualities.

Emergent Design: The Evolutionary Nature of Professional Software Development. Scott L. Bain.

useful

Java Tools for Extreme Programming: Mastering Open Source Tools Including Ant, JUnit, and Cactus. Richard Hightower, Nicholas Lesiecki.

Test Driven Development: By Example. Kent Beck. Not as great as we were hoping, but very useful.

online

Design Patterns Explained: A New Perspective on Object-Oriented Design. Alan Shalloway and James R. Trott. (Net Objectives) Selected chapters from the book

Integration Patterns. Integration Patterns. (Microsoft) This is the third patterns release in the Patterns and Practices series from Microsoft.

Building on the application patterns presented in Enterprise Solution Patterns Using Microsoft .NET, this guide applies patterns to solve integration problems within the enterprise. The guide contains a pattern catalog of 18 common integration patterns, including implementations that use BizTalk Server 2004, Host Integration Server 2004, ASP.NET, Visual Studio .NET, Visio 2003, and the .NET Framework.

Interface Design: Best Practices in Object-Oriented API Design in Java. Bill Venners.An on-line book in process of being written. A good introduction to OO and patterns.

Refactoring To Patterns. Joshua Kerievsky.

Thinking In Patterns. Bruce Eckel.

essential

Java Design: Building Better Apps and Applets (2nd Edition). Peter Coad. Core book for Java programmers. This book tells you how to do things that incorporate the object-oriented principles espoused by the Gang of Four's Design Pattern book. I am not sure proper credit is given here, but how to use composition instead of inheritance - one of the main themes of design patterns - is very well described. General design principles, interfaces and threads are also well discussed.

Multi-Paradigm Design for C++. Coplien. Don’t let the title fool you. The first half of the book: Commonality Analysis, Variability Analysis, Application Domain Analysis, Object-Oriented Analysis, are must reads by all programmers (yes, Java ones too). In fact, I use much of this material for my course on Using Design Patterns to Build Application Architectures. If you don’t understand your problem domain very well, patterns aren’t going to help. See Coplien's thesis which comprises most of this book.

UML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language (3rd Edition). Fowler. A short, concise book on the UML (unified modeling language). More importantly, he has a short chapter on an overall process for object-oriented development. Clear, to the point and very understandable.

useful

The CRC Card Book. David Bellin and Susan Simone. This is a great book on CRC (class-responsibility-collaboration) cards in two ways. First, it gives an excellent technical description of what CRC cards are and how to use them. However, more importantly, it deals with the practical, people issues of using CRC cards. Though not as well know as Using CRC Cards: An Informal Approach to Object-Oriented Development by Wilkinson, I like this one better. Primarily because it is taught with the viewpoint that CRC cards are useful team tools as well as design tools. With the simplicity of CRC cards, the way you use them is more important than what they are.

Why would I want to learn about CRC cards? When starting out to learn object-oriented development, many people take one of two approaches. One – either learn general object-oriented principles and don’t worry about methodologies or two – go the other extreme and spend a considerable time trying to learn a methodology. Each approach has serious disadvantages to it.

Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software. Eric Evans.

online

Coplien's Thesis Multi-Paradigm Design. James O. Coplien. Essentially the same as his Multi-Paradigm Design for C++.

Patterns for Effective Use Cases. Steve Adolph and Paul Bramble. The follow up to Alistair Cockburn's Writing Effective Use-Cases.

essential

Accelerated C++: Practical Programming by Example. Koenig and Moo. AWL, 2000. This is the best book to use to learn or teach C++. While Eckel’s book Thinking in C++ is great, this is a better 1st book because it is more succinct and starts people immediately using the Template Library. See the books' website.

Advanced Programming in the UNIX(R) Environment (2nd Edition). Stevens Core for UNIX. I can’t imagine programming C or C++ under UNIX without this book. Absolutely essential. I wasted weeks before I found this and now depend upon it.

Effective C++: 55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs (3rd Edition). Meyers. This book will help you avoid many first time (and second, third, … time) mistakes. Meyer has a solid understanding of the language and a great way to convey it. This is a great book for using C++ in useful ways. This is not a hacker book that teaches you tricks and tips. Rather it is a book for developing good, solid use of the C++ language and avoiding its many pitfalls.

Thinking in C++, Volume 1: Introduction to Standard C++ (2nd Edition). Bruce Eckel. One of the best books to use to learn C++. Useful even after you know the language. You can also get this book in an electronic format for free at his web-site.

useful

C++ Coding Standards: 101 Rules, Guidelines, and Best Practices (C++ In-Depth Series). Sutter, Alexandrescu. Great, practical book.

C++ Common Knowledge: Essential Intermediate Programming. Dewhurst. Becoming my favorite of the “Effective C++” type books.

essential

Effective Java Programming Language Guide. Bloch. This is a great book on effective programming. I even recommend it to C# developers.

Thinking in Java (4th Edition). Bruce Eckel. Bruce is one of the few authors of language books that truly knows object-oriented technology. His examples are excellent and his layout great. He also has a CD that includes his Java course. See his web-site for both the CD and a free electronic format of the book.

useful

Developing Java Enterprise Applications. Asbury, Weiner. A big, good, conceptual overview of all Java Enterprise technologies. A good place to start.

essential

Special note on Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software. Gamma, Helm, Johnson, Vlissides. While this was a great book and changed the industry forever (and for the better), we do not recommend it anymore Other, better, books are now available.

Design Patterns Explained: A New Perspective On Object-Oriented Design. Alan Shalloway and James R. Trott. Alan and Jim wrote this book because there was a dire need of explaining what design patterns are. This book doesn't replace the need for Gamma, et. al.'s Design Patterns book, it introduces it. It then extends it with concepts like Commonality / Variability Analysis and discusses how patterns and agile methods work together. This book is more than a patterns book, it is a design book. This should be read with the Head First Design Patterns book.

Head First Design Patterns (Head First). Freeman, et al. This book is great if you want to learn object-orientation and patterns. However, it is not as good as Design Patterns Explained for design, although it is consistent with it. Perhaps does a better job of the basics, but doesn't go into as many issues (even though it does cover more patterns).

The Timeless Way of Building. Christopher Alexander The book that really started it all. Christopher Alexander is a building architect whose insights into the fundamental truths of building are both brilliant and controversial (yet I am certain true). This will give you insights that most software developers writing about patterns have either left out or misunderstood. Read this, the source of the paradigm. It will be thoroughly enjoyable as well. This is the only book that makes my top 5 personal list and top 5 professional list.

A note about reading it. Christopher recommends reading the italicized sections if you don’t have time to read the whole book as opposed to just reading the first few chapters. This gives you a sense of the entire book. I suggest reading these sections first anyway. It will take a couple of hours, but then when you go back and read it normally, you will understand and enjoy it much better.

useful

Core J2EE Patterns: Best Practices and Design Strategies, Second Edition. Alur, Crupi, Malks. This book is good for anyone writing distributed network applications as many of the issues deal with network performance on a conceptual level. However, if you are doing J2EE work, this is an essential read.

Analysis Patterns: Reusable Object Models. Fowler. Fowler is not only one of the best authors around, he is also one of the best speakers. Definitely worth attending any session at which he presents. Analysis patterns are about our data models. The problems discussed occur across several problem domains. The solutions espoused are worth knowing. I suggest everyone read at least the first 90 or so pages of this book. While at this stage, it is really just meta-modeling we are doing, when applications require it, there is no other flexible way to accommodate the data.

Design Patterns Java(TM) Workbook. Metsker. Good for Java implementation.

Pattern Hatching: Design Patterns Applied. John Vlissides. John takes design patterns another step forward by showing how they can work together. Not quite to the extent of my Thinking in Patterns approach but a very useful and readable book. Chapter 1 can be found at Amazon.com

Pattern Languages of Program Design, PLOP 2, PLOP 3, PLOP 4, PLOP 5. These books give a broader selection of patterns than many other pattern books. The write-ups are generally of high quality. Which ones you like best will depend upon your own problem domains.

Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture Volume 1: A System of Patterns. Buschmann, Meunier, Rohnert, Sommerlad, Stal. My number 3 choice for a design pattern book (after ours and the Gang of Four). For some patterns, like Model-View-Controller and Proxy, it does a better job than the Gang of Four’s book. I like its use of interactive diagrams and CRC cards. Nevertheless, it is not as consistently deep as GoF?’s. However, if studying alone, it is a great counterpart to the GoF book.

Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture Volume 2: Patterns for Concurrent and Networked Objects. Schmidt. Important if you are writing distributed or multi-tasking programs. This is a great book if you need to look at these issues.

Patterns in Java: A Catalog of Reusable Design Patterns Illustrated with UML, 2nd Edition, Volume 1 . Grand. Useful for Java users. Some people think this book is a bit pretentious and just a rehash of the GoF book. However, his use of the UML (Unified Modeling Language) and several of his examples give new perspectives on patterns. Also, when learning patterns, it's often nice to have different examples.

Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture. Fowler, et. al.

essential

Code Complete, Second Edition. McConnell. One of the best books on the issues of general programming around. You can’t help but improve your code after reading this. It is thick, but read a little everyday, you’ll find the book interesting and your code improving.

useful

Writing Solid Code: Microsoft's Techniques for Developing Bug-Free C Programs. Maguire. Useful, although dated now. Still, one of the best coding books around. Read it especially if you aren’t using assertions (you should be). This book is mostly about C, but Java programmers should read chapters 2 and 3 on assertions and avoiding bugs.

A Technical Library

This is our suggestion for creating a technical library for a group of 20 people.

• Design Patterns Explained: A New Perspective On Object-Oriented Design (10 copies)
• Head First Design Patterns (20 copies)
• The Timeless Way of Building (3 copies)
• Fit for Developing Software: Framework for Integrated Tests (4 copies)
• Agile Software Development, Principles, Patterns, and Practices (8 copies)

Note: The number of copies represents how many people I suspect will actually read it. Any book with 10 or more copies would be worth giving to everybody, but I am trying to be budget minded.

essential

BUGS in Writing, Revised Edition: A Guide to Debugging Your Prose (2nd Edition). Dupré. If you want to write better, read this book. Entertaining as well as informative. If you hate cats you may have troubles with this – fortunately I’m a dog lover who has adjusted to cats (we currently have 7).

essential

Fit for Developing Software: Framework for Integrated Tests. by Rick Mugridge

A brilliant book. Explains not just how to use FIT, but how to improve the customer / tester / developer dynamic. An absolute must read.

useful

Fit (Framework for Integrated Tests).

Fitnesse (Team Use of Fit). This is a self-contained, fully integrated, wiki and acceptance testing framework based upon FIT.

JUnitEE. JUnitEE is a simple extension to JUnit which allows standard test cases to be run from within a J2EE application server. It is composed primarily of a servlet which outputs the test results as html.

Enterprise Java Beans.

Test infect your Enterprise JavaBeans . Learn how to test your J2EE components live and in the wild.

online

EJB Unit Test page on a popular wiki. The purpose of this page is to discuss and possibly define some guidelines for doing unit tests on

essential

Envisioning Information. Edward Tufte.

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Edward Tufte. A favorite of one of our clients that looks quite good.

business analysts

Writing Effective Use Cases. Alistair Cockburn

Fit for Developing Software: Framework for Integrated Tests. Rick Mugridge

project managers, scrum masters

Agile Software Development with SCRUM. Ken Schwaber and Mike Beedle

Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit for Software Development Managers. Mary Poppendieck, Tom Poppendieck

Agile Estimating and Planning. Mike Cohn

architects,
team leads

Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit for Software Development Managers. Mary Poppendieck, Tom Poppendieck

Design Patterns Explained: A New Perspective on Object-Oriented Design (2nd Edition) (Software Patterns Series). Alan Shalloway and James R. Trott

Agile Software Development with SCRUM. Ken Schwaber and Mike Beedle

Effective Java Programming Language Guide. Bloch

Agile Estimating and Planning. Mike Cohn

developers

Design Patterns Explained: A New Perspective on Object-Oriented Design (2nd Edition). Alan Shalloway and James R. Trott

Effective Java Programming Language Guide. Bloch

Head First Design Patterns (Head First). Freeman, et al

testers

Fit for Developing Software: Framework for Integrated Tests. Rick Mugridge