I am again in the design phase of a very large project. The project context is to provide a new solution for the core services and core integration infrastructure around the prepaid platform on the largest telecommunication organisation in Greece. This is the most intrinsic motivation for me, define the essential architecture, spot the tricky points of requirements and provide a durable and efficient solution.

Two are the most common ways to become a very skilled enterprise software engineer/architect. The first is to work hard with such skilled people and the second is to read books that are really useful.

I present here a list of books that have really helped me to construct/design enterprise quality software. The order of books is meaningless.

Development

👁 The Pragmatic Programmer

The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master

Authors: Andrew Hunt, David Thomas

👁 Java Concurrency in Practice

Java Concurrency in Practice

Authors: Brian Goetz with Tim Peierls, Joshua Bloch, Joseph Bowbeer, David Holmes, Doug Lea

👁 Effective Java Programming Language Guide

Effective Java Programming Language Guide

Author: Joshua Bloch

👁 Effective Java 2nd Edition

Effective Java 2nd Edition

Author: Joshua Bloch

Integration

👁 Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture

Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture

Authors: Martin Fowler with Dave Rice, Matthew Foemmel, Edward Hieatt, Robert Mee, and Randy Stafford

👁 Enterprise Integration Patterns

Enterprise Integration Patterns: Designing, Building, and Deploying Messaging Solutions

Authors: Gregor Hohpe, Bobby Woolf

👁 Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software

Authors: Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides

👁 Service-Oriented Architecture: Concepts Technology, and Design

Service-Oriented Architecture: Concepts, Technology, and Design

Author: Thomas Erl

(only a few chapters, which are really valuable)

👁 SOA Principles of Service Design

SOA Principles of Service Design

Author: Thomas Erl

(only a few chapters, which are really valuable)

General

👁 The Mythical Man-Month

The Mythical Man-Month

Author: Frederick Brooks

This is not a closed list, but contains most of the books that I really like (for now). I know that there are newer books, which are great too, and also new languages that are really very promising, but these are the books that really help me to become what I am.
What am I really??

Maybe the book that I read now may help you and me on this definition.
The book I read this period is this:

👁 Synthetic Overview of the Collaborative Economy

Synthetic Overview of the Collaborative Economy

Authors: Michel Bauwens and Franco Iacomella, Nicolas Mendoza, James Burke, Chris Pinchen, Antonin Leonard, Edwin Mootoosamy

I am a fan of Free Software and Open Source ideas. These ideas are not restricted only to software development, but to many areas out of software field (check Open Source Ecology).

I am not trying to advertise these books, or the authors or the publishers. I just respect theirs work and that’s why I mention these books in this blog.
 

Reference: Invaluable books for an enterprise software engineer from our JCG partner Adrianos Dadis at the Java, Integration and the virtues of source blog.