Ask HN: Does reading technical books help your software engineering career?

7 pointscastrodd3y ago4 comments

It is the beginning of the year and so I am putting together my annual list of technical books that I would like to read this year. However, I am beginning to feel that reading these books is not having much of an effect on my performance at work. I also get the feeling that my colleagues consider the practice of reading physical books on technical topics a bit of a fool's errand.

Do people here feel that this is a useful practice or are there better, more efficient ways to improve one's technical skills outside of the daily learning process on the job?

4 comments

4 comments · 3 top-level

bhargav3y ago· 1 in thread

I've learned a lot of what I know just using "learn by doing" principle. I think I retain a lot better this way. However, you can only go as far with learn by doing principle as far as you need to "do". Meaning, you might never have to worry about memory optimization or thread locking strategies unless and until you need to.

The field of "programming" can be very wide, so technical books sometimes help fill those gaps to give you an head start when you end up having to "learn by doing".

I don't really think its a waste of time. However, in my case, unless I get to apply what I learned or read, I will likely forget it. So my one tip would be to ensure you pick up books in areas a little closer to your personal or work projects.

YMMV

jaredsohn3y ago

I found reading books after "doing" for awhile to be useful to just improve how I organize things in my head. I usually find a few (but not many if a focal area of experience) things I didn't know beforehand, and it improves awareness of how much of it I do know.

earpwald3y ago

The short answer....it depends.

It very much depends on what books you're reading, if they're right for you at your current level and helping you take the next step up. it depends on if you're not just reading but also seeking for ways to engage with what you have read....there's a lot of factors.

Actively doing will always teach more than just reading, but if you read, try out, adapt, try again, then you may find more benefit.