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Advanced Windows (2e) by Jeffrey Richter [Recommended]

Michael Wild writes:
The first Win95 programming book worth recommending.

Design Patterns, Elements of Reusable OO Software by Gamma & Helm & Johnson & Vlissides [Highly Recommended]

Kevlin Henney writes:
If you have even the slightest inclination towards considering yourself a serious OO developer, this book should be on your shelf.

Future Does Not Compute, The by Stephen L Talbott [Highly Recommended]

Francis Glassborow writes:
Make the time to read this book, you owe it to yourself as well as to the future.

Indispensible PC Hardware Book (2nd ed), The by Messmer [Recommended]

Michael Wild writes:
This is easily the most comprehensive and detailed general reference for the hardware elements of the PC.

Inside OLE (2e) by Kraig Brockschmidt [Recommended]

Michael Wild writes:
Probably the best available in-depth introduction to OLE and COM.

Microsoft Sourcebook for the Help Desk by Microsoft [Recommended]

Francis Glassborow writes:
One of the great mysteries of life is that Microsoft Press so often produce excellent books on subjects such as this one.

Mythical Man-Month, The by F Brooks Jr [Highly Recommended]

Francis Glassborow writes:
If you have never read it before, put everything else aside and remedy this serious omission at once.

OS/2 Certification Handbook by Halberg & Ivens [Recommended]

Francis Glassborow writes:
OS/2 Certification Handbook is a book that those that need it must have.

Practical Computer Ethics by Duncan Langford [Recommended]

Francis Glassborow writes:
I think that a module on ethics should be a part of any student's course whatever their main subject of study.

Practical Neural Network Recipes in C++ by T Masters [Recommended]

Gary Thompson writes:
Overall I give the book an ambivalent thumbs up.

Principles of Object-Oriented Software Development by Anton Eliens [Recommended]

Peter Tillier writes:
I really liked this book. It is based on lectures given by the author at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and is full of useful information about OO and programming examples in C++.

Professional Awareness in Software Engineering by C Myers [Recommended]

Francis Glassborow writes:
This is one of those books that serious computer professionals should take the time to read.

Radiosity and Realistic Image Synthesis by M Cohen & J Wallace [Recommended]

Michael Minihane writes:
If you are a Computer Graphics Student or Professional then this book is something you should look at if you're serious about radiosity; there is nothing else like it available.

Running Linux by Matt Welsh & Lar Kaufman [Highly Recommended]

Derek Jones writes:
The best book I have read so far this year. A must buy for the Linux developer.

Signal & Image Processing with Neural Networks by Masters [Recommended]

Derek Jones writes:
If you are seriously involved with signal processing this book is well worth a look.

Social Issues in Computing by Huff & Finholt [Recommended]

Francis Glassborow writes:
I would like to encourage you to read it. Not all the writers are equally readable but the material is important and generally of a good standard.

Software Requirements & Specifications by M Jackson [Recommended]

Francis Glassborow writes:
I hate to say it, but this is another book that I would encourage you to read. Many more of these and you will be working over time to pay your book bill.

Software Solutions in C by Dale Schumacher [Highly Recommended]

Ian Cargill writes:
While there is a surfeit of C books for beginners, there are all too few books which show the intermediate programmer how to use C to solve practical problems. Software Solutions in C is an excellent book which does just that.

Unix for the MS-DOS User by Kenneth Pugh [Recommended]

Eddie Boyle writes:
If you are a DOS user who is going to have to transfer onto a UNIX system then I would heartily recommend reading this book first.

Windows 95 Resource Kit by Microsoft [Recommended]

Michael Wild writes:
If you're installing Win95 systems in quantity, or trying to fix a tricky installation problem, you'll need this. There's no substitute.

Writing Windows VxDs and Device Drivers by Karen Hazzah [Recommended]

Michael Wild writes:
I'm not going to say much about it, because it's a case of 'if you need to work in this field get this book'.

Zen of Graphics Programming by Michael Abrash [Highly Recommended]

Shanawaz Basith writes:
Overall the book is very well written, contains much useful information and is well complemented with lots of example code; a real treasure trove.

Please note that opinions are those of the individual reviewers.

Who is to blame for poor programming books?

As I worked through my stack of books to review I found myself noticing two things: the number of well written books that were not directly about computer programming, and the number of programming books that were written by those who seem to know less about their material than they like to believe and who suffer from poor technical reviewing. In other words, many books on C/C++ needed far more work prior to publication. For this, editors and technical reviewers must take the blame.

Francis Glassborow
Editor, C Vu