Best Practices means doing the right thing, and best practices shouldn't be limited to engineers, many of the topics on this page can and should be read by other members of the business.

• Best Business Planning Practices
• Best Management Practices
• Best Engineering Practices

• Best Business Planning Practices

  Software Estimation is an important skill, the foresight it provides is essential. All engineers and business people should be well versed with the mechanics and vagaries of software estimation.

• It is always profitable to train business people to write SQL queries. Most engineers can improve their SQL abilities by learning from a master like Joe Celko and his book Joe Celko's SQL for Smarties: Advanced SQL Programming.

• The business of software has changed dramatically, and even if your company hasn't, it's still important to be aware of changes and innovation in the industry. Paul Graham is a useful barometer. Many of his essays are avaiable online at http://paulgraham.com however, his printed collection Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age is inexpensive and convenient.

• Best Management Practices

  The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineeringby Frederick P. Brooks is a classic text on project and people management. Among other points, his book contains a detailed explanation of why adding people to a project just makes the schedule longer and not shorter.

• Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams is an innovative management book that argues that the basic problems of software development are human, not technical. And although some things that the book proposes have fallen out of fashion (such as giving developers their own offices) many of the book's points are not easily dismissed.

• Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity by Joel Spolsky Also some of his essays are available online at www.joelonsoftware.com --he's got some good ideas, but you have to look past his biases and occasional silliness.

• Best Engineering Practices

  Refactoring is an important best practice. Fowler's book contains valid approaches for all languages.

• Code Complete 2 Excellent function-level coverage ranging up to the big picture. Not necessarily language dependent--but many examples are given in specific languages.

• The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master is one of my favorite books. It will definitely help an engineer progress from journeyman to master. Even if you have worked years in the industry, you will still find good ideas and insights in this book.

• Extreme Programming is often misunderstood. Read the manifesto and understand:

• Security is an important best practice that should be studied and discussed by every person within the business. Understanding the network is an important part. Unix System Admininstration Handbook

• Hacking Exposed 6th Edition When Hacking Exposed was first published it created quite a controversy for being a detailed exposŽ. It is still relevant and important.

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