Software Engineering at Google versus The DevOps Handbook.
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 July 2026
Option A
Software Engineering at Google
Titus Winters, Tom Manshreck, Hyrum Wright · 2020
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Option B
The DevOps Handbook
Gene Kim, Jez Humble, Patrick Debois, John Willis, Nicole Forsgren · 2021
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Author
Titus Winters, Tom Manshreck, Hyrum Wright
Gene Kim, Jez Humble, Patrick Debois, John Willis, Nicole Forsgren
Pages
599
480
Published
2020
2021
Publisher
O'Reilly Media
IT Revolution Press
Level
intermediate to advanced
intermediate
Amazon Rating
4.6/5 (712)
4.6/5 (2,900)
Goodreads Rating
4.32/5 (1,480)
4.29/5 (5,959)
Software Engineering at Google
Strengths
+ Honest about what worked, what didn't, and what's specific to Google's scale
+ Best available treatment of large-scale code change and deprecation
+ Each chapter stands alone — you can read just the topics you need
+ Coined Hyrum's Law in a form every engineer should internalize
Caveats
− Some chapters are heavy on Google-specific tools (Blaze, Critique, Piper)
− Cultural chapters can feel like recruiting marketing in places
− Less directly applicable at a 10-person startup than at a 1,000-person company
The DevOps Handbook
Strengths
+ Concrete practices, not just DevOps philosophy
+ Second edition adds fresh case studies and security depth
+ Bridges technical pipeline work and organizational culture
+ Grounded in DORA research on what actually drives performance
Caveats
− Long, and some case studies feel repetitive
− Enterprise framing can feel heavy for small teams
− Broad coverage means specific tools are not taught in depth
The verdict
Read The DevOps Handbook first to build foundations, then move to Software Engineering at Google for advanced concepts.
Software Engineering at Google
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The DevOps Handbook
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Frequently asked
Which is better, Software Engineering at Google or The DevOps Handbook?
Read The DevOps Handbook first to build foundations, then move to Software Engineering at Google for advanced concepts.
Is Software Engineering at Google only useful if you work at a big company?
Most chapters apply at any team size of about 20+ engineers. The book is explicit about which practices need scale to pay off and which work even on small teams — read the testing, code review, and deprecation chapters first; treat the monorepo and infrastructure chapters as context.
Is The DevOps Handbook worth reading in 2026?
Yes. Its practices, flow, fast feedback, continuous delivery, and integrated security, remain the backbone of modern delivery. The second edition refreshed the case studies. It is the practical companion to Accelerate, which supplies the research behind the same ideas.