 | How to Write a Good Advertisement author: Victor O. Schwab asin: 0879803975 binding: Paperback list price: $20.00 USD amazon price: $13.60 USD |
The sole purpose of a headline is get the person to read the sub-head. The sole purpose of a sub-head is to get the person to keep reading the content. Useful lessons on copywriting.
 | Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language author: Don Watson asin: 1740512065 binding: Hardcover |
 | Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability author: Steve Krug asin: 0789723107 binding: Paperback list price: $35.00 USD amazon price: $35.00 |
Read it the first time in one sitting. A wonderful little book, very easy to read, full of good advice delivered with clarity.
 | Eric Meyer on CSS: Mastering the Language of Web Design author: Eric Meyer asin: 073571245X binding: Paperback list price: $55.00 USD amazon price: $34.65 USD |
You should read his blog and read his books.
 | Triggers: 30 Sales Tools you can use to Control the Mind of your Prospect to Motivate, Influence and author: Joseph Sugarman asin: 1891686038 binding: Hardcover list price: $19.95 USD amazon price: $19.95 |
Ignore a lot of the words on the front and back cover. There are some really good thinking tools in here that you can apply to our line of business.
 | Principles of Transaction Processing (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems) author: Philip A. Bernstein Eric Newcomer asin: 1558604154 binding: Paperback list price: $75.95 USD amazon price: $55.23 USD |
This book is sort-of the readers digest version of the Jim Gray TP book and it borrows heavily from that book, but of course it covers only a sliver of Gray's work. That said, this is much more accessible and contains a very good description of idempotence and reliable messaging.
 | Transaction Processing, First Edition : Concepts and Techniques (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data author: Jim Gray Andreas Reuter asin: 1558601902 binding: Hardcover list price: $137.00 USD amazon price: $104.00 USD |
The book on the topic from the masterful Jim Gray. One of my pet rants is the complete lack of understanding and hence implementation of ACID. From Banks (big ones too) that have mainframe code with no concurrency control whatsover to silver-bullet persistence frameworks that were first published without any concurrency control whatsoever to collaborative or shared editing solutions that were shipped without any concurrency control whatsoever and... well you get the point. This stuff is well understood and well experimented and measured. Don't go try and figure out locking yourself. Don't just do ovine optimistic locking. Go read how this stuff is actually done. Start with failfast, learn the two-phase locking theorem, get on board with idempotence, be the first on your block to get this stuff right. Ok, ok, end of rant.
 | The Psychology of Computer Programming: Silver Anniversary Edition author: Gerald M. Weinberg asin: 0932633420 binding: Paperback list price: $44.95 USD amazon price: $40.45 USD |
One of the most famous books on programming. Anything written by Weinberg is worth reading. I once told Jerry that much of his stuff (and others) I read and then go "I wish I wrote that.". He replied something like "yes I used to think that way too then I learned to just be glad that I read it." 'nuff said?
 | Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully author: Gerald M. Weinberg asin: 0932633013 binding: Paperback list price: $29.95 USD amazon price: $29.95 |
I consider this book a competitive weapon - a significant competitive advantage. Anything written by Weinberg is worth reading. I once told Jerry that much of his stuff (and others) I read and then go "I wish I wrote that.". He replied something like "yes I used to think that way too then I learned to just be glad that I read it." 'nuff said?
 | Quality Software Management: Anticipating Change (Quality Software Management) author: Gerald M. Weinberg asin: 0932633323 binding: Hardcover list price: $44.95 USD amazon price: $35.96 USD |
The last of a four volume series. Anything written by Weinberg is worth reading. I once told Jerry that much of his stuff (and others) I read and then go "I wish I wrote that.". He replied something like "yes I used to think that way too then I learned to just be glad that I read it." 'nuff said?
