Below contains a list of books which we recommend.

Agile development:

1. Agile Software Development - Cockburn
   
   1. Great book! Really explains "what it's about".
2. Agile Project Management - Highsmidth
   
   1. Focus on somewhat higher level view. Borrows very much from the ASD method though.
3. Lean Software Development - Poppendieck
   
   1. The concepts of lean are visible across all the Agile methods.
   2. See also Poppendieck
4. From Concept to Cash: Implementing Lean Software Development - Poppendieck
   
   1. Follow-up of earlier book. Better explanation and more stuff.
5. Agile Software Development, Principles, Patterns and Practices - Martin
   
   1. Very concrete book on the technical aspects of actual development.
      This is actually just a great software design book and not directly related to Agile development.
6. Extreme Programming - Kent Beck
   
   1. XP has influenced all methods so much that this XP book can be considered a basic agile development book.
7. Agile & Iterative Development - Craig Larman
   
   1. Great overview of the principles of iterative development.
8. The Pragmatic Programmer - From Journeyman to Master - Hunt, Thomas
   
   1. The book with an attitude towards programming! Could be mandatory reading for every programmer.
9. Working Effectively with Legacy Code - Michael Feathers
   
   1. Maybe not a "basic agile book" but essential in legacy code environment.
      Legacy code is defined as "any code without automated tests".
      Michael explains how to get legacy code under test and how to use practices like Test-Driven Development with legacy code.
10. Agile Estimating and Planning - Mike Cohn
    
    1. THE book on agile estimating and planning.
11. Agile Program Management with Scrum - Ken Schwaber
    
    1. Basic book on the Scrum method.

Classical SW development:

1. Debugging the Development Process - Maguire
   
   1. Great book from a team lead in Microsoft about how to keep teams producing great software.
2. Rapid Development - McConnell
   
   1. Catalog of best practices (in particular schedule-oriented).
   2. What kind of rapid development do you need?
3. Peopleware - DeMarco, Lister
   
   1. The human aspect of SW Development and great teams.
4. Dynamics of Software Development - McCarthy
   
   1. Tips from the program manager of Visual C++ on how to keep teams focused.
5. Mythical Man Month - Brooks
   
   1. The classic on software engineering.
   2. Note that there are some second thoughts in the Anniversery Edition!
6. Death March - The Complete Software Developer's Guide to Surviving
   
   1. Real classic about bad projects.
7. Principles of Software Engineering Management - Gilb
   
   1. This is a seminal book, first published in 1988. Describes the principles of the Evo method,
      which is one of the early forerunners of current agile methods.

Gerald Weinberg:

1. The psychology of Computer Programming
   
   1. First and classic book on the human sides on software development.
2. An Introduction to General Systems Thinking
   
   1. Classic on systems thinking. Good introduction to the subject.
3. Are your lights on? How to figure out what the problem really is
   
   1. Great book on problem solving.
4. Becoming a Technical Leader
   
   1. Book described the technical leader workshop.
5. The Secrets of Consulting
   
   1. A must read for anyone involved in consulting.External consultants as while as internal coaches.
6. More Secrets of Consulting
   
   1. Follow-up to the classic secrets of consulting.
7. Quality Software Management: Volume 1 Systems Thinking
   
   1. First book in Software Management series about Systems Thinking.

Lean:

1. Machine that Changed the World - Womack, Jones
   
   1. Book that introduced the term lean.
2. Lean Thinking - Womack, Jones
   
   1. Book that explains the basic values and concepts of lean productions.
3. The Toyota Way - Liker
   
   1. 14 principles from Toyota. Explains many lean ideas in detail.
4. The Gold Mine - Balle
   
   1. Novel about a lean transformation. Nice stories and very concrete.
5. Product Development for the lean enterprise
   1. How do lean ideas and product development match together.

Other:

1. The Goal - Goldratt
   
   1. Introduction to theory of constraints.
   2. Suggests focusing on the big goal of the business, instead of small local optimizations.
2. Out of the Crisis - Deming
   
   1. 14 key points to management.
3. Juran on Quality by Design - Juran
   
   1. Classic on quality management and how to think about quality.
4. What is Total Quality Control? The Japanese Way
   
   1. Most interesting book on quality management. Provides the origins of Kaizen.
5. The knowledge creating company - Nonaka
   
   1. Some theories on tacit knowledge. Scrum was inspired by this.
6. Birth of the Chaordic Age - Dee Hock
   
   1. Book on Leadership-collaboration management styles.
7. The Fifth Dicipline - Peter Senge
   
   1. Classic introduction to organizational learning and systems thinking.

© 2007, Odd-e