Programming Resources

A collection of bookmarks, books, and movies related to programming.

Programming Resources & Reference

General Programming

  • Stack Overflow – a great resource for anything and everything coding related.

Web Programming

Database Programming

  • w3schools SQL – excellent bare bones SQL reference & tutorials
  • Hibernate – interacting with the database is now easier

Java Programming

  • Java 1.6 Javadoc
  • Apache Commons – a collection of amazing util libraries
  • Apache Ant – a great tool for building and automating stuff
  • Log4j – the best logging solution for java projects
  • Apache Maven – the modern way to manage projects and dependencies
  • Apache ServiceMix – java container with ESB (Camel)
  • Apache Camel – integration framework with enterprise integration pattern implementations.
  • Apache Tomcat – java container (just servlets/jsp, not EJB..)
  • EasyMock – unit testing framework that makes mocking out integration points easy
  • Junit – unit testing framework
  • Spring Framework – hook your apps together easily, externalize your config easily, and much much more.
  • REST in Java

iPhone Programming

Unix Scripting

Misc

Programming Tools

The Essential Tools

  • Apache Subversion (SVN) – source control
  • TortoiseSVN – amazing windows SVN client
  • SmartSVN – another SVN client for windows or OSX
  • Notepad++ – an amazing free text editor for windows
  • jEdit – a cross-platform editor that works on OS X
  • Eclipse IDE – a great IDE for java
  • Beyond Compare – awesome merge tool
  • Base Camp – free online project management
  • Rally – better (but non-free) online project management
  • DropBox – automatically sync, backup, share your files
  • Google Docs – share and edit your docs online
  • Skype – IM, VOIP, and video chat
  • DokuWiki – a great, free, text-file-backed wiki solution.
  • Tight VNC – vnc client and server
  • Cygwin – unix commands on windows
  • 7zip – free, high quality zip & unzipping program
  • Hudson – runs automated maven builds, test suites, reports, and deployments
  • Putty – a free ssh client
  • Code::Blocks – a passable c/c++ IDE (better than eclipse C++ anyway..)
  • phpbb – the software that powers most internet forums
  • gallery – image gallery software

Database Tools

  • SQLLite – a small embeddable database used in many languages and libraries.
  • MySQL – open source, high quality database
  • Squirrell SQL – SQL client tool

Testing Tools

  • Soap UI – test webservices and restful services and web servers w/ SOAP/HTTP calls you configure
  • AutoIt – automate windows gui operations
  • Selenium – automate web application test suites easily
  • Google Chrome – a great browser with amazing developer tools builtin right out of the box
  • RestClient plugin for Firefox – a REST client that runs inside firefox
  • Web Developer plugin for Firefox – tools similar to those built in to chrome
  • QuickRex – amazing regex testing tool, standalone or as an eclipse plugin

Multimedia Tools

  • ImgBurn – free, high quality cd/dvd/blu-ray burning program
  • Audacity – free, open source, quality audio editor
  • Inkscape – free, open source, vector graphics program like adobe illustrator
  • Gimp – free, open source, image editor like adobe photoshop
  • Paint.net – free image editor like adobe photoshop
  • Paint Shop Pro – non-free (but affordable) image editor like adobe photoshop

Productivity Tools

  • Launchy – quickly find and launch programs
  • AutoHotKey – mouse and keyboard macro scripting system
  • Filezilla – free ftp server and client, supports sftp
  • Console – tabbed cmd.exe replacement for windows

Final Package tools

  • Inno Setup – create windows installer/uninstallers, i think the winamp guys made something like this too that’s more widely used.. it’s been a while..
  • Windows Help Designer – create those ancient windows help files windows used in the 90s

Programming Articles

Programming Career Articles

Educational Articles

Other Programming / Tech Resources

Code Blogs

Design Blogs

Other Tech Blogs

Tech News

Coder Humor

Books

Java Books

Web Books

General Programming Books

Other Nerdy Books

  • Microserfs by Douglas Coupland – a fictional story about some people who work at Microsoft for a while, then decide to do their own startup.
  • The Cuckoo’s Egg by Clifford Stroll – a non-fictional account of a unix system administrator / programmer tracking down a group of hackers.
  • A Brief History of the Future by John Naughton – this covers the history of how the internet came to be.
  • Code by Charles Petzold – an amazing book that shows the reader how code works, starting with morse code and telegraphs, on through building basic circuitry, ending with the basics of how code and computers work.
  • 21 Dog Years by Mike Daisey – a humorous account of a guy who worked at Amazon for 3 years. He wasn’t a programmer, but the absurdity of his experience is fairly pedestrian and unfortunately ‘normal’ stuff in corporate cultures.
  • Revolution in the Valley by Andy Hertzfield – an account of building the macintosh computer at apple.
  • The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison by Mike Wilson – a great glimpse at an arrogant, yet decisive and lucky leader of a major company. This is the type of leadership your big company will have at the top (if you’re lucky, too….)
  • Masters of Doom by David Kushner – an account of Id software, creators of wolfenstein, doom, quake, and the FPS genre.
  • Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight by Mindell – covers the apollo computer used to fly to the moon, and the ongoing battle of man vs machine.

Movies

  • Pirates of Silicon Valley – a movie about Microsoft and Apple’s humble beginnings and ups and downs.
  • Startup.com – a great documentary about a startup from start to finish.
  • The Social Network – a documentary about Facebook.
  • Hackers – a completely inaccurate movie that portrays computer programming in terms that your family and friends will think of when you explain what you do for a living. This is what you’ll be up against.
  • Hackers 2 or TakeDown – a dramatization of the kevin mitnick hacker story
  • Enemy Of The State – a movie about modern surveilance technology
  • From the Earth To The Moon – a miniseries about the U.S. space program’s apollo project
  • Apollo 13 – a movie about the apollo spaceflight that went wrong, but was saved by engineering ingenuity
  • Tron & Tron Legacy – a series of movies about a programmer who gets stuck inside the machine
  • The Matrix Trilogy – basically tron in the late nineties.