Comprehensive guide to modern C programming covering the latest C23 standard. This book teaches C programming from a modern perspective, focusing on best practices, safety, and the latest language features. Essential reading for developers working with systems programming, embedded systems, or low-level code.

Modern C, Third Edition is an essential guide for anyone working with the C programming language. Jens Gustedt's approach to teaching modern C is refreshing—he focuses on best practices, safety, and the latest C23 standard features rather than just covering legacy C89/C99 patterns. The book is well-structured, progressing from fundamentals to advanced topics, and includes practical examples that demonstrate real-world applications. The third edition's coverage of C23 standard features makes it particularly valuable for developers who need to stay current with the language. Whether you're working on systems programming, embedded systems, or performance-critical applications, this book provides the knowledge and best practices you need to write safe, efficient, and maintainable C code. The emphasis on modern C idioms and safety practices sets it apart from older C programming books that may not reflect current best practices.

Comprehensive guide to modern C programming covering the latest C23 standard. Essential for systems programming, embedded systems, and low-level code.

Modern C Third Edition: Complete C23 Standard Guide

Modern C, Third Edition: Covers the C23 standard

Césarini and Vinoski's guide to building fault-tolerant systems with Erlang/OTP. Even if you never write Erlang, the mental models for fault-tolerance and concurrency are outstanding.

Designing for Scalability with Erlang/OTP is the book that changed how I think about fault tolerance. I don't write Erlang, but the mental models in this book—supervision trees, let it crash, process isolation—apply to any system that needs to be resilient. The chapter on supervision trees showed me why our microservices kept cascading failures: we weren't isolating failures properly, and one service going down took everything with it. The section on hot code swapping gave me ideas for zero-downtime deployments in other languages, and the chapter on distributed systems helped me understand why some architectures are more resilient than others. The book is technical—you'll need to understand concurrency and distributed systems—but the concepts are explained clearly. My only critique is that some of the Erlang-specific details won't apply if you're not using the language, but the principles are worth it. I've recommended it to developers working on distributed systems, and they've all said it helped them think about fault tolerance differently. Essential reading for anyone building systems that need to stay up.

Césarini and Vinoski's guide to fault-tolerant systems with Erlang/OTP. Supervision trees, process isolation, and let-it-crash. Patterns apply beyond Erlang.

Designing for Scalability with Erlang/OTP: Fault-Tolerant

Designing for Scalability with Erlang/OTP: Implement Robust, Fault-Tolerant Systems

Clear, modern introduction to one of the fastest-growing systems languages. Learn Rust's ownership model, memory safety, and how to write fast, reliable systems code.

The Rust Programming Language is the book that finally made ownership click for me. I'd tried learning Rust from blog posts and documentation, but the borrow checker kept defeating me. This book walks you through ownership, borrowing, and lifetimes with examples that build on each other, and by chapter 4 I was writing code that actually compiled. The second edition updates the examples for modern Rust and adds chapters on async/await and error handling that weren't in the first edition. The chapter on concurrency is particularly strong—it explains why Rust's approach to thread safety is different from other languages, and the examples of common pitfalls are spot-on. The book assumes you know how to program, but not necessarily in systems languages, which makes it accessible. My only critique is that some of the later chapters on advanced topics can feel rushed, but the core concepts are covered thoroughly. I've recommended it to three developers who wanted to learn Rust, and all of them said it was the resource that made the language click.

Clear introduction to Rust's ownership model, memory safety, and systems programming. Learn to write fast, reliable code with updated examples and async/await.

The Rust Programming Language: 2nd Edition Systems Guide

The Rust Programming Language (2nd Edition)

Comprehensive introduction to Go covering language fundamentals, concurrency, and tooling for building reliable software.

Even with Go 1.23 on the horizon, Donovan and Kernighan’s book remains the best on-ramp to the language. The chapters walk you through Go’s syntax, standard library, and testing culture with the authors’ trademark clarity, and the concurrency section—goroutines, channels, pipelines—translates directly into the patterns we use at work. I hand the book to new engineers, then pair it with Effective Go and Go Proverbs to reinforce idioms. Some tooling references predate modules, but the core language hasn’t changed, and the exercises still sharpen your Go muscle memory. If you write Go professionally or want to move beyond tutorials, this is essential reading.

The Go Programming Language: Comprehensive Guide Book

The Go Programming Language

Discover the best systems programming products and tools we actually use. Each item tested in real-world scenarios with honest, detailed reviews.

Systems Programming Products

Modern C, Third Edition: Covers the C23 standard

Designing for Scalability with Erlang/OTP: Implement Robust, Fault-Tolerant Systems

The Rust Programming Language (2nd Edition)

The Go Programming Language