Building LLMs for Production versus The Developer's Playbook for Large Language Model Security.
Both show up on every "best" list. They're not competitors. They're a sequence. Here's which one to read first, and when.
Reviewed by Ashish Sheth · Updated August 2026
Option A
Building LLMs for Production
Louis-François Bouchard, Louie Peters · 2024
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Option B
The Developer's Playbook for Large Language Model Security
Steve Wilson · 2024
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Author
Louis-François Bouchard, Louie Peters
Steve Wilson
Pages
463
200
Published
2024
2024
Publisher
Towards AI
O'Reilly Media
Level
intermediate
intermediate
Amazon Rating
4.8/5 (23)
4.6/5 (29)
Goodreads Rating
4.11/5 (53)
3.71/5 (41)
Building LLMs for Production
Strengths
+ Clear explanations with simple analogies for complex concepts
+ Practical code examples using LangChain and LlamaIndex
+ Strong chapters on fine-tuning, quantization, and distillation
+ Endorsed by Jerry Liu (CEO of LlamaIndex) as most comprehensive LLM apps textbook
Caveats
− Title says 'Production' but lacks depth on actual hosting and serving infrastructure
− Reads more as applied research than a practical engineering guide
− Better as a reference than a cover-to-cover read
The Developer's Playbook for Large Language Model Security
Strengths
+ The most practical single book on securing apps built with LLMs
+ Written for developers, so advice maps onto code you are already writing
+ Built on the OWASP Top 10 for LLMs, so the coverage is structured and current
+ Short and focused; you can read it before a launch and act on it
Caveats
− A fast-moving field, so some tools and attacks will keep evolving past print
− Assumes you already build software; it is not an introduction to AI itself
− Broad by design, so a specific attack class may need deeper follow-up reading
The verdict
Building LLMs for Production is the stronger pick overall, but The Developer's Playbook for Large Language Model Security may suit you better if you're a developers building features on top of GPT, Claude, or open-weight models.
Building LLMs for Production
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The Developer's Playbook for Large Language Model Security
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Frequently asked
Which is better, Building LLMs for Production or The Developer's Playbook for Large Language Model Security?
Building LLMs for Production is the stronger pick overall, but The Developer's Playbook for Large Language Model Security may suit you better if you're a developers building features on top of GPT, Claude, or open-weight models.
Is Building LLMs for Production good for beginners?
You need basic Python and some understanding of what LLMs are. It's not a first-ever AI book, but it starts from fundamentals and builds up.
Who should read The Developer's Playbook for Large Language Model Security?
Developers and tech leads who are adding LLM features, chatbots, RAG systems, or agents to a product and want a security baseline before they ship. It assumes you build software but are new to the risks specific to large language models, and it maps each risk onto practical code-level defenses. About 40 Goodreads readers rate it around 3.7.