简体中文
EnglishWhat Books Has Greg Wilson Written or Edited?
Updated
Greg Wilson is the author, co-author, or editor of 14 books on programming and two for children, according to his site The Third Bit. The site highlights six titles in detail: two Software Design by Example volumes, two research and data science titles, and two books on teaching and software architecture. The list below reflects what the site currently features; it is not a complete bibliography of all 14 programming books.
Software Design by Example
These two books teach software design by walking through the construction of tools that programmers use every day.
| Title | Language | Scope | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Design by Example in Python | Python | Two dozen worked examples | 2024 |
| Software Design by Example in JavaScript | JavaScript | Twenty worked examples | 2022 |
Who each is for
- Python edition (2024): The most recent of the two, and the natural starting point if you work in Python or want the largest set of examples.
- JavaScript edition (2022): Choose this if your day-to-day work is in JavaScript or web-adjacent tooling, or if you want to compare how the same design ideas play out in a different language.
Both follow the same premise: rather than describing design patterns abstractly, they show how to build the tools programmers rely on. If you learn best by reading working code and reconstructing it, this pair is the closest fit on the list.
Research and Data Science Titles
| Title | Focus | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Research Software Engineering with Python | Building research software and running research software projects | 2021 |
| JavaScript for Data Science | JavaScript and web programming for data scientists | 2020 |
- Research Software Engineering with Python covers both the code and the project side — building research software and managing the projects around it. It suits researchers and research software developers who need to run a team or a project, not just write scripts.
- JavaScript for Data Science is an introduction to JavaScript and web programming aimed at data scientists. It is the better pick if your work needs to live in a browser or on the web.
Teaching and Architecture
| Title | Focus | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Teaching Tech Together | Evidence-based teaching for people with technical backgrounds | 2019 |
| The Architecture of Open Source Applications | Essays on the architectures of fifty open source projects | — |
- Teaching Tech Together is for programmers and data scientists who teach or train others. It is the book to reach for if you run workshops, courses, or onboarding, and want practices grounded in evidence rather than habit.
- The Architecture of Open Source Applications is a collection of essays describing how fifty open source projects are structured. It is useful when you want to study real architectures rather than toy examples, and it pairs naturally with the Software Design by Example volumes.
How to Choose
- Learning design by building: Software Design by Example in your primary language (Python 2024, JavaScript 2022).
- Running a research software project: Research Software Engineering with Python.
- Data science on the web: JavaScript for Data Science.
- Teaching or training others: Teaching Tech Together.
- Studying real-world architectures: The Architecture of Open Source Applications.
The site also notes Wilson's background — co-founder and first Executive Director of Software Carpentry, co-founder of It Will Never Work in Theory and The Architecture of Open Source Applications, ACM SIGSOFT Influential Educator of the Year, and a Fellow of the Python Software Foundation — which explains the split between the design, research, and teaching strands in the list. For the full set of publications beyond these featured books, the site's publications page is the place to check.