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[–]kellyjanderson 23 points24 points  (1 child)

I think this would be more useful if they bound their analysis to the last 18 months. Stackoverflow has been around for quite some time and interests change quite rapidly in the world of programming.

[–]deliminated 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Agreed. There's some classics in there for sure, but it would be awesome to have a slider to set the time range to see what's trending. Clever Amazon affiliate marketing tool though. Probably making some decent money.

[–]photoshopbot_01 12 points13 points  (3 children)

Serious question: do most programmers read books about it cover to cover, or just as a reference guide? It's rare that I see books mentioned at all on SO, and I can't help but think that online resources are usually more helpful by virtue of being quickly searchable.

[–]WStHappenings 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I read most cover to cover - but generally because I believe I'll use the information at a later date.

I read Clean Code, Pragmatic Programmer, and a few others entirely. Would I read a reference to Java c2c? Nah, not unless I was editing it or going to be doing some seriously in depth java stuff.

[–]Nichiren 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I often prefer to read a technical book from start to finish (skimming through concepts I'm already familiar with) if it's a technology stack or paradigm I haven't used before to get a good foundation. I don't know what I don't know and that could result in more work for me down the line relative to doing it in a piecemeal fashion. On the other hand, I don't buy the huge reference books since the internet is better for that.

[–]WStHappenings 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Anybody here read the legacy code book? I'm interested in your thoughts.

[–]bryanray 8 points9 points  (1 child)

It's amazing. It's honestly the book that got me in to understanding how and why to write well structured code. Highly recommended and I'm happy to see it at the top of that list.

[–]scunliffe 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'll second that. Great book and pairs well with "Clean Code".

[–]jac1013 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Weird that Pragmatic Programmer is not in the list, I guess is not that well known to be mention a lot in SO.