Introducing DevReading.com

Computing is a diverse field with many areas of interest that don’t always overlap. Security researchers, data scientists and UI developers work with computers, but that’s about where the similarity ends. They all use different tools, languages and stacks. A UI dev probably won’t be reading about disassembling malicious arm64 binaries. Data scientists won’t need to know a lot about accessibility. Security professionals don’t care about processing event streams.

Unfortunately, many bookshops and discovery platforms group computer books under one big category. You’ll get Computers — General and Programming if you’re lucky.

There are many fantastic programming, infosec and data science books. To find them, you have to wade through many irrelevant titles. Searching works sometimes, but not all good books have the right keywords in the title. In fact, not having the cookie-cutter, keyword-stuffed title can signal a particularly good read.

More recently, low-effort AI-generated books begun seeping through the filters. These scams range from mass-produced titles based on keyword research to books trying to impersonate popular releases from well-known authors. I found one guy who published nearly 250 books in 2023. He covered quantum computing, building Node.js apps, AI in fintech, mindful parenting and even mental toughness for athletes. I’m sure all of those are thrilling reads.

Although most people interested in computing are savvy enough to avoid these, they add even more noise to the category. And you can get burned if you’re not careful.

My university had a library that carried mainly computing books plus a few related titles. It wasn’t the biggest library, but it was incredible. I loved browsing the physical collection. Sometimes, I decided to learn about a new tool or stack because I found a book that looked cool.

I haven’t had the same experience since I graduated. That’s why I decided to build devreading.com.

Like the library at my uni, Dev Reading only has computer books and titles that developers and other industry professionals will find interesting.

My goal is to categorise the bulk of available computer literature based on interests, topics, stacks, languages and more. I want to create the best browsing experience possible, second only to browsing physical shelves.

It will take some time to get through all of them. There’s a ton of reading about computers out there.

You may be thinking, ‘Now, he’s going to announce his earth-shattering AI recommendation tool for books.‘

I was thinking about that, too. While there are a lot of computer books, there aren’t that many. Besides, the subcategories tend to be quite distinct, and people’s interests are somewhat eclectic. Perhaps someone learned Rust and wants to dive into Haskell next. That doesn’t mean there’s a natural progression from Rust to Haskell.

If someone liked Mastering Kubernetes, they might also be interested in Kubernetes Patterns. You don’t need a crazy AI model to figure that out.

Going straight to machine learning would be a solution looking for a problem. Good old-fashioned curation still has its place.

Good books. Good browsing experience. Discover your next technical read on devreading.com 🚀.