The unwritten laws of engineering
by W.J King · first published 1944
65% recommend30% neutral5% critical
Why HN recommends it
Short, practical guide to the non-technical side of engineering work: office politics, people skills and workplace dos and don'ts. Suits newcomers and early-career engineers, and its advice still applies despite its age.
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…period as a game of Go. Interesting both from historical, military, and game-theoretical perspective; raised an appreciation of Eastern wisdom and 'board games as a tool of thought' [2] for me. • "The Unwritten Laws of Engineering" by W. J. King. Written in 1944, but the advice is still relevant, more so to the software engineering field. Should be at least skimmed at any part of your career. • "The Myth of Sisyphus" by Alber…
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗The best advice I have seen about this topic is the classic book "The Unwritten Laws of Engineering" from W.J. King. I always recommend the book to newcomers. Note that the latest re-print of the book is named "The Unwritten Laws of Business". I guess that editors expect to attract more readers with…
on “Ask HN: How do you manage your manager?” ↗The unwritten laws of engineering (James G. Skakoon, original by W.J. King). 67 page introduction to "soft skills" for engineers. I wish I read this book earlier to understand that being a great coder is only part of growing into a great…
on “Ask HN: Best books under 200 pages for developers?” ↗…Feynman What Do You Care What Other People Think? - Richard Feynman Crime and Guilt: Stories - Ferdinand von Schirach Last Chance to See - Douglas Adams Travels - Michael Crichton Technical: The Unwritten Laws of Engineering - W.J. King Nonfiction: Legal Systems Very Different From Ours - David Friedman Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World - Tim Marshall
on “Ask HN: What books should I read this summer?” ↗Buy and read The Unwritten Laws of Engineering by W.J. King. It's a bit dated and somewhat sexist but has a lot of helpful advice - I wish I had read it when I started my career.
on “Ask HN: What is your advice to someone who is starting out in software industry?” ↗The Unwritten Laws of Engineering by W.J. King. It's a bit dated but has a lot of helpful advice - I wish I had read it when I started my career.
on “Ask HN: What are the best books for professional effectiveness?” ↗Unwritten Laws of Engineering by W.J. King from 1940. This has nothing about software engineering in particular but a useful list of Do's and Don't for workplace. You would be surprised how much of this is relevant today.
on “Ask HN: What books should I read to improve as a software engineer?” ↗…networking style: If you ever wanted to know the politics of how networking RFCs are made: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2298785.The_Elements_of_... and design choices made to build modern day internet Unwritten Laws of Engineering: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13122143-unwritten-laws-... is an old and timeless way detailing what it means to engineer High Performance Browser Networking: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17985198-high-performanc...…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books of all time, and why?” ↗We do have an ethical code. "The Unwritten Laws of Engineering" book sums it up nicely. The ethical codes such as those of ACM or IEEE are good examples.
on “A Facebook request: Write a code of tech ethics” ↗Here are my three: "Unwritten Laws of Engineering" https://www.amazon.com/dp/0791801624 Originally meant for mechanical engineers, it provides specific and general non-technical career advice. It focuses on what we call “soft” skills today. This field…
on “Classic books for tech leads or those aspiring to be” ↗I've read The Pragmatic Programmer and large chunks of the Unwritten Laws of Engineering. They're excellent books, but they're targeted for early career developers and people struggling to figure out the office work life. It's fair to say that you're probably not the target audience, but…
on “Books that changed my career as a software engineer” ↗I didn't know about "Unwritten Laws of Engineering" - skimming through some of it, this is an excellent book and I wish I knew about it before. I was fortunate enough to be around senior engineers who took upon themselves to mentor junior engineers like…
on “Books that changed my career as a software engineer” ↗The Unwritten Laws of Engineering by WJ King is a great book on the people-skills side of engineering and management. At ~60 pages it’s also mercifully short and to the point.
on “Ask HN: Reading material on how to be a better software engineer?” ↗“The unwritten laws of engineering” https://www.asme.org/publications-submissions/books/find-boo...
on “Ask HN: Good books on philosophy of engineering?” ↗A better list might be found in the Unwritten Laws of Engineering by WJ King.
on “Dos & Don'ts Upon Taking a New Job” ↗