These are a list of my favourites in tech, whether they’re podcasts, blogs, youtube videos, or books.

Books

1. Designing Data Intensive Applications - Martin Kleppmann Youtube Playlist of Lectures
2. Database Internals - Alex Petrov (Also watch his talk - Link)
3. The Rust Programming Language - Carol Nichols and Steve Klabnik
4. Learn Python the Hard Way - Zed A. Shaw (This book taught me how to code in 2014)
5. Fluent Python - Luciano Ramalho
6. Python 101 - Mike Driscoll
7. Python 201 - Mike Driscoll
8. CPython Internals - Anthony Shaw
9. Build a Large Language Model from Scratch - Sebastian Raschka
10. Rust for Rustaceans - Jon Gjengset
11. Beej’s Guide to Network Concepts
12. Beej’s Guide to Git
13. Beej’s Guide to Network Programming

Articles & Blogs

1. Julia Evans jvns.ca

All of Julia’s articles are gold. I recommend reading 5 a day.

2. Brendan Gregg www.brendangregg.com/

Brendan’s articles on performance and his talks across the tech world are really solid.

3. Giles Thomas gilesthomas.com

I particularly love his articles on Sebastian Raschka’s Build a Large Language Model (from Scratch). They’re ongoing as of this post, but I hope he gets around to finishing them.

4. Reality Has a Surprising Amount of Detail

This article is part philosphy and part advice on a life in programming.

Podcasts and Videos

1. Rich Hickey Talks

Rich Hickey’s talks throughout the years are inspiring. I love listening to them from time to time, especially the one on Hammock Driven Development.

2. PyCon 2017 - Sam Agnew - Hacking Classic Nintendo Games with Python

I love this talk because it was one of the first talks to inspire me about how to structure talks in a conference.

3. Alex Petrov - What Every Programmer Has to know about Database Storage

Watch this if you’re dealing with databases. Alex’s book is really good as well.

4. Martin Kleppmann’s Distributed Systems Lectures

If you’re reading the book, I thoroughly recommend his video lectures as well.

5. Jon Gjengset’s Rust Videos

Jon’s videos on Rust are solid, intermediate-to-high level content about Rust. It’s what we need more of!

6. anthonywritescode

Anthony Sotille’s videos on Python are like Jon’s videos on Rust in a sense. He talks about some libraries you could be using all the time without realizing it, and he also digs through the internals of these. The videos are usually under 10 minutes and they’re great for when you only have a short time every day. I remember binging through these during the pandemic.

7. Neetcode

These videos are gold for getting through Leetcode-style interview preparation. I have purchased a one year subscription to his course, and he’s really good at giving you a strong understanding of what’s going on in every problem in under 15 minutes. I’m not sure if his courses are really worth it, but his youtube channel is solid and I’ve wanted to support him.

8. Talk Python To Me

Talk Python is one of my favourite podcasts out there. I’ve been listening since 2018, and I really enjoy Michael’s interview style.

9. Python Bytes

Python Bytes is Michael’s collaborative podcast with Brian Okken, and these episodes range around 15 minutes. Byte-sized, if you will!

10. Test and Code

Brian’s standalone podcast Test and Code is also about python and excellent. Binge through all 3 of these every week to get your python news and trends.

11. Rustacean Station

Rust needs more podcasts and video tutorials. Sadly, the Rustacean Station is one of the only Rust-centric podcasts I have found consistent. There are other channels but they’re lacking in quality. (Jon Gjengset’s videos are not really a podcast.)

12. Syntax.fm

I don’t do any Javascript these days, but Syntax helps me stay on top of JS trends. I don’t listen as often as I’d like, but it’s fun to tune in every now and then. Wes Bos has an excellent set of tutorials that I’ve bought, and Scott Tolinski also has some great tutorials on his website.