Book Overflow March Madness in December! Comparing Every Book We've Ever Read!
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Dec 15, 2025 Join Carter and Nathan as they dive into a March Madness-style bracket to crown their favorite book! They pit classics like 'Hypermedia' against '99 Bottles of OOP' while engaging with listener favorites. Discussions on 'The Practice of Programming' and 'Fundamentals of Software Architecture' highlight impactful lessons in coding. The hosts also celebrate the qualities of 'Made to Stick' and reflect on the enduring wisdom of 'A Philosophy of Software Design.' Finally, 'Fundamentals' triumphs as the ultimate winner!
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Use External Tiebreakers
- Use tie-breakers and external votes when you can't decide between subjective choices.
- Carter and Nathan invited superfans to rank books and used those scores to break ties.
Breadth Beats Narrow Reference
- Practical, focused books beat niche references for broad applicability.
- Carter preferred Fundamentals of Software Architecture over a niche OpenTelemetry reference for general usefulness.
Refactor In Small, Safe Steps
- Learn refactoring techniques to make safe, incremental changes without altering behavior.
- Use tests and small steps so you can stop anytime without breaking functionality.