Re: Timeless Classics of Software Engineering

"Mikito Harakiri" <mikharakiri_at_iahu.com> wrote in message news:<dQeOc.47$8H4.120_at_news.oracle.com>...

[ ... ]

> No database textbooks listed so far. Is it because
> 1. There are no classic database books.
> Or rather
> 2. Software engineers usually don't know anything about databases.

I would say:

3. Because the OP asked about SE, not databases.

I, for one, can think of at least a couple I'd consider classics about database design, just as I can think of some I'd consider classics about compilers, operating systems, networking, etc.

A few might qualify as crossovers as well: just for example, Lion's book or almost any of Tannenbaum's books could be used for studying SE, with operating sytsems as the example code. Likewise, the Dragon Book could be used as a study in SE with compilers as the sample code.

Likewise, almost anything by C.J. Date or E.F. Codd could qualify as a more or less timeless classic, but none of them is more than tangentially related to SE.

OTOH, I'd say Robert Heinlein or F. Paul Wilson might have just as relevant of messages for software engineers as Date or Codd...

-- 
    Later,
    Jerry.

The universe is a figment of its own imagination.