---
title: "10 Books Shopify’s Tech Talent Think You Should Read"
description: "Shopify presents ten books recommended by its developers and engineers for people working in technology, spanning technical foundations, software design, learning habits, feedback, leadership, documentation, and focus. The recommendations were gathered from ten technical employees, while Shopify says its book bar stocks favorite titles and makes requested copies available to employees. Several entries address software systems directly: The Elements of Computing Systems guides readers through hardware, assembly language, programming languages, and operating systems, while A Philosophy of Software Design examines managing complexity and distinguishing tactical from strategic coding. Other selections argue for deep practice, smarter questioning, effective feedback reception, incremental knowledge transmission, decentralized leadership, critical reflection on the technology industry, and uninterrupted work blocks, with the contributors describing how particular books changed their studying, systems thinking, or approach to growth."
---

# 10 Books Shopify’s Tech Talent Think You Should Read

[Shopify](https://yomu.fyi/company/shopify) · 2023-10-18 · Mar 29, 2022

**Type:** Explainer

## Summary

Shopify presents ten books recommended by its developers and engineers for people working in technology, spanning technical foundations, software design, learning habits, feedback, leadership, documentation, and focus. The recommendations were gathered from ten technical employees, while Shopify says its book bar stocks favorite titles and makes requested copies available to employees. Several entries address software systems directly: The Elements of Computing Systems guides readers through hardware, assembly language, programming languages, and operating systems, while A Philosophy of Software Design examines managing complexity and distinguishing tactical from strategic coding. Other selections argue for deep practice, smarter questioning, effective feedback reception, incremental knowledge transmission, decentralized leadership, critical reflection on the technology industry, and uninterrupted work blocks, with the contributors describing how particular books changed their studying, systems thinking, or approach to growth.

## Context

Shopify wanted technical employees to identify books they thought everyone in technology should read. The resulting choices extend beyond hard skills into personal habits and patterns involving note-taking, feedback, knowledge sharing, and maintaining focus amid distractions.

## Approach / What changed

The post presents ten recommendations from Shopify developers and engineers, with each contributor explaining a book's relevance to technical work or broader professional growth. Shopify also describes a company book bar containing favorite titles and making copies available to employees who request them.

## Takeaways

- The recommendations combine software-focused works with books about deep practice, questioning, feedback, note-taking, leadership, documentation, industry culture, and focused work.
- The Elements of Computing Systems is presented as a workbook covering hardware chip specifications, assembly language, programming language, and operating system construction from the ground up.
- Living Documentation frames documentation as knowledge transmission and proposes applying development tools and methods incrementally to bridge fragile direct communication and difficult-to-maintain traditional documentation.

**Tags:** [Architecture](https://yomu.fyi/topic/architecture), [Developer Experience](https://yomu.fyi/topic/developer-experience)

- Source: [Shopify](https://shopify.engineering/shopify-tech-talent-book-recommendations)
- Source URL: https://shopify.engineering/shopify-tech-talent-book-recommendations
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-08-30T15:27:05.593Z

[Read original post](https://shopify.engineering/shopify-tech-talent-book-recommendations)