Recommends
Architecture reading list.
Books I return to — mapped to architecture capabilities and skills. Filter by year, capability, or skill to find what fits where you are.
Architecture Reading List — Books
Recommendations linked to architecture capabilities and skills.
Staff Engineer: Leadership Beyond the Management Track
Will Larson
This book outlines four common staff-level archetypes and how engineers navigate between them as company requirements evolve.
Vibe Coding: Building Production-Grade Software With GenAI, Chat, Agents, and Beyond
Gene Kim, Steve Yegge
The author advocates for disciplined "vibe coding," utilizing the FAAFO framework and a three-loop development model to manage GenAI workflows.
Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential
Carol Dweck
This work contrasts fixed and growth mindsets, arguing that talent is best developed through effort, strategy, and collaboration rather than being innate.
Crossing the Chasm
Geoffrey A. Moore
This classic text defines the Technology Adoption Lifecycle, emphasizing the critical gap that exists between early adopters and the early majority.
Thinking in Systems
Donella H. Meadows
A foundational guide to systems modelling, this book encourages focusing on feedback loops, delays, and behaviour rather than static structures.
Release It! Design and Deploy Production-Ready Software (2nd Edition)
Michael T. Nygard
This practical guide provides design patterns and case studies for maintaining robust, production-ready distributed systems.
Residues: Time, Change, and Uncertainty in Software Architecture
Barry M. O'Reilly
This book introduces Residuality Theory, suggesting that simulating stress on a design is more effective than traditional prediction-based methodologies.
Introducing EventStorming
Alberto Brandolini
A practical, collaborative guide to using EventStorming workshops to align stakeholders and clarify project requirements.
Accelerate
Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, Gene Kim
This research-based book outlines the four key metrics of software delivery performance that redefined industry standards for engineering evaluation.
Fundamentals of Software Architecture (2nd Edition)
Mark Richards, Neal Ford
A comprehensive survey that introduces foundational concepts and compares nine distinct architectural styles.
Righting Software: A Method for System and Project Design
Juval Löwy
The author promotes Volatility-Based Decomposition, arguing that designing around elements prone to change is superior to traditional functional decomposition.
Building Event-Driven Microservices
Adam Bellemare
This guide offers practical strategies for managing data flow and resolving typical challenges within event-driven microservice systems.
Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less
Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, Roy Schwartz
This book teaches a repeatable methodology for writing concisely to cut through noise and ensure your message is heard.
The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
Clayton Christensen
An exploration of how sustaining and disruptive innovations differ, and why incumbent firms often struggle to survive the latter.
The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering (Anniversary Edition, 2nd Edition)
Fred Brooks
This classic collection of essays highlights enduring software engineering challenges, famously demonstrating why adding staff to a late project often causes further delays.
The Soul of a New Machine
Tracy Kidder
This narrative captures the high-pressure, intense experience of a team racing against deadlines to design a new computer system.
Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software
Eric Evans
An in-depth guide to domain modelling that provides a framework for design decisions and a shared architectural vocabulary.
Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture
Martin Fowler
This book details the common challenges of enterprise software development alongside a reference list of proven design patterns.
Six Thinking Hats
Edward de Bono
A collaborative decision-making technique that helps teams avoid adversarial conflict by examining situations from six distinct perspectives in sequence.
The Image of the City
Kevin Lynch
This work adapts principles of urban navigation to software architecture, providing insights on how to make diagrams more intuitive by aligning with human mental models.
The Rules of Work
Richard Templar
A collection of over 100 practical career rules aimed at helping professionals identify stalling points and improve their professional trajectory.
INSPIRED: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love
Marty Cagan
A practical guide to product management that explores the critical roles and responsibilities necessary for developing successful tech products.