Abdul Waheed

Abdul Waheed

Full Stack Engineer

building SaaS & shipping code

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Favorite Books

A curated collection of books that have influenced how I approach software architecture, user experience design, product development, and personal growth.

#01Tech & Systems2017

Designing Data-Intensive Applications

by Martin Kleppmann

Rereading

The definitive guide to system architecture, storage engines, and distributed computing.

Key Takeaway

Reliability, scalability, and maintainability are not accidental features; they are carefully architected tradeoffs.

#02Tech & Systems2019

The Pragmatic Programmer

by Andrew Hunt & David Thomas

Read

Essential wisdom for continuous career growth, software craftsmanship, and pragmatic decisions.

Key Takeaway

Don't live with broken windows. Take full ownership of code quality, automation, and continuous improvement.

#03Design & UX2013

The Design of Everyday Things

by Don Norman

Read

The fundamental primer on human-centered design, affordances, and intuitive feedback loops.

Key Takeaway

When users make mistakes with software, it is a design failure, not a user failure.

#04Mindset & Philosophy2018

Atomic Habits

by James Clear

Read

A proven framework for building positive habits, eliminating friction, and compounding progress.

Key Takeaway

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

#05Tech & Systems2008

Clean Code

by Robert C. Martin

Read

A timeless handbook for crafting clean, readable, refactored, and maintainable software.

Key Takeaway

Code is read 10x more often than it is written. Write it for human comprehension first.

#06Product & Business2014

Zero to One

by Peter Thiel

Read

Insights on building true 0-to-1 technological breakthroughs and category-defining products.

Key Takeaway

Doing what we know takes the world from 1 to N. Doing something new takes us from 0 to 1.

#07Tech & Systems2018

Refactoring: Improving Code Design

by Martin Fowler

Read

Systematic patterns for transforming code structure safely without breaking functionality.

Key Takeaway

Refactoring is not a special task; it is an ongoing, micro-habit of everyday software development.

Always Reading & Learning

Have a book recommendation on software systems, product design, or engineering management? Feel free to reach out!