This blog is all about the curated list of books that I suggest you read to enhance your knowledge and to get prepared for your interview. So, let's first explore the benefits of self-preparation through reading before moving on to the recommendation.

Everyone has experienced the anxiety of missing out on a wonderful opportunity because of a single mistake, a sweaty handshake, or the interviewer's choice of question. It is also interesting to note that very few candidates realize the importance and prepare for the job interview the way they should.

In this scenario, any candidate taking even the slightest interest in the development of his or her interview skills can do wonders in the job interview. Hence, the key to preventing misfortune and disappointment is preparation. So, here are five books that can help you during your job interview preparation.

Algorithms Unlocked

#1. The first book which I recommend is “Algorithms Unlocked”. It's by Thomas Cormen. This is a really easy read, compared to his other book that he wrote “Introduction to algorithms” which is the bible of algorithms. And that's way too math-heavy. I would never recommend anyone going through that, in my opinion. Unless you're interested in it.

But “Algorithms Unlocked” is a very practical book. It's short. It goes over all of the different kinds of algorithms and data structures that you'd need to know in an interview. And they explain it in layman’s terms. So even someone that hasn't even coded a line of code can go through this and process some of this information.

But if you have been coding for a couple of months and you've solved a bunch of puzzles. For you, this should be piece of cake and this is a great book. So definitely check it out.

So that's what I recommend everyone to do. First, learn SQL. I've got courses on that.

Then learn the granular components of programming. I've got courses on that. And do assignments that either you do in my courses or you go to “coding bat” and practice those puzzles there on the website. That's really what you should do.

You just need to strengthen your coding logic. Once your coding logic is in place and you can pass any interview that you want. Because you also learn Data Structures and Algorithms from “Algorithms Unlocked” (for example).

Then any app is going to be very easy for you to build, believe it or not. You can learn React JS if you want or flutter or iOS or Android programming. Whatever you want to get into like web development. It's going to be very easy for you to learn any framework too.

Because the tough sticking points in your logic are just completely gone and you're just really sharp at coding. And that you can achieve that state in about two years of coding every day. You could be considered an expert in two to three maybe four years, you could be an expert in the industry if you work hard.

Cracking the Coding Interview

#2. The second book on the list is “Cracking the Coding Interview”, which was written by Gayle Laakmann McDowell. About 500 pages of content, mostly about landing the best employment for software developers, make up the book.

This book offers useful advice to those looking for careers in software development regarding general software programming questions and solutions, as well as the author's insights regarding typical interview errors. This book has been published in several editions, each of which has more questions and answers than the one preceding it, but the overall structure stays the same.

The key takeaways from this book are as follows:

• To approach difficult algorithm challenges and how to make decisions in those kinds of scenarios, a special and well-researched approach is provided.
• He also discussed methods for technical and behavioral problems.
• Gayle has discussed 150+ software programming questions that are typically addressed by recruiters and has attempted to offer advice on how the ideal answer should be presented.
• To understand real-world practice and assist candidates to prepare for such employment, this book also describes typical mistakes made by job seekers and the behind-the-scenes interview procedure undertaken at Google, Facebook, etc.

In addition to these, this book also discusses special circumstances that a candidate may encounter during an interview, the offer evaluation procedure and other helpful hints, concepts of data structures and algorithms, and certain complicated concepts needed for interview preparation. So, grab one and start preparing; trust me, it's an excellent book to get.

60 Seconds and You're Hired

#3. The third book that I would suggest is, “60 Seconds and You’re Hired!” You'll get the most benefit and ease out of this book because of the author's short and straightforward explanations of concepts. The key takeaways of this book are as follows:

• Some distinctive and observation-based approaches developed by the author, like "the 5-Point Agenda, "How to sell in 60 Seconds," etc.
• Interview questions that are frequently asked and how to respond to them after creating your analysis report and evaluating it using the author's scale of measurement.
• It also includes some traps you should stay away from
• Techniques and abilities for negotiating to achieve your goals and acquire the best results possible.

Automate the Boring Stuff with Python: Practical Programming

#4. The fourth book suggestion on the list is “Automate the Boring Stuff with Python: Practical Programming”. If you've ever wasted hours renaming files or updating hundreds of spreadsheet cells, and you are aware of how tiring such activities can be, then this book is for you. You may learn how to develop Python programs that accomplish tasks that would often take you hours to complete by hand in Automate the Boring Stuff with Python without any prior programming knowledge.

As soon as you have a clear understanding of the fundamentals of programming, you'll be able to easily develop Python programs that accomplish necessary and amazing automation tasks such as Searching text across multiple files, renaming multiple files, surfing the web, and downloading contents, send email and messages, and various PDF operations(Splitting, Editing, Watermarks, encrypting), etc.

As a result, this book may be incredibly helpful to you in learning the functional principles of programming, which can help you become a better developer in addition to automating things. Try this book, learn how to automate tasks, and have fun.

Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship

#5 The last book in the book recommendation is, “Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship”, by Robert C. Martin. Martin has collaborated with his coworkers at Object Mentor to condense their best agile technique of cleaning code "on the fly" into a book that, if you put the effort into it, will instill in you the values of a software developer and improve your program.

Even unreliable code can run. However, unclean code can bring down an entire development team. Every year, countless hours and substantial resources are wasted as a result of bad programming. This book is all about the ways of good programming. With this, you can identify good code and bad code.

You'll learn how to write clear code, give functions and variables meaningful names, comment when it's necessary, format your code, and use other techniques to make your code functional and agile so that it's simple to test and assess its boundaries. Additionally, error handling and its best practices will be covered.

As a result, this book will teach you how to write clean code, which makes your code more agile and simple for other developers to understand. Therefore, acquiring the skill of creating clean code, which many software developers lack, will help you save a lot of time and effort while also improving yourself as an experienced software developer.

So those are the five books I would suggest; remember, these are just my recommendations, and you are not mandated to read them all. The major objective of this blog is to help you in interview preparation and to improve your abilities as a programmer, developer, analyst, or in any other role that you may be in. Therefore, if you have time to read, then give these books a try and enhance your skills.

Resources

• Job Ready Programmer Courses: https://www.jobreadyprogrammer.com/p/all-access-pass?coupon_code=GET_HIRED_ALREADY
• Job Ready Curriculum, our free Programming Guide (PDF): https://pages.jobreadyprogrammer.com/curriculum

About the Author

Imtiaz Ahmad is an award-winning Udemy Instructor who is highly experienced in big data technologies and enterprise software architectures. Imtiaz has spent a considerable amount of time building financial software on Wall St. and worked with companies like S&P, Goldman Sachs, AOL and JP Morgan along with helping various startups solve mission-critical software problems. In his 13+ years of experience, Imtiaz has also taught software development in programming languages like Java, C++, Python, PL/SQL, Ruby and JavaScript. He’s the founder of Job Ready Programmer — an online programming school that prepares students of all backgrounds to become professional job-ready software developers through real-world programming courses.