Orthogonal to its usefulness for learning C, K&R (especially K&R 1) deserves to be kept around to serve as an aspirational model for clear and concise technical writing.
There's more real material in that slim book than in many a thousand page doorstop out there, yet at the same time it's easy to follow.
I'll add The Unix Programming Environment, by Kernighan and Pike. Like K&R, the examples it picks "happen" to teach so much more than you came to learn :), e.g. anatomy of version control, some language design, basics of interpreters & compilers.
It depends on what it implies it being the only one on the bookshelf.
Is it the one you consult often because it has so much timeless or deep knowledge?
The one you loved the most so far and has a sentimental value?
The one that is most impressive as a background in online meetings? :)
The one you most want to read but haven't gotten around to yet?
I guess we'd get different and less conflicting answers here if everyone interpreted the question in the same manner.
"Code Complete". Producing code that is consistent, readable and relatively free of defects is more important than design patterns, language-specific features, etc. Give me boring, predictable code any day.
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it's such a complete book, i always recommend to any backend developers.
I’d never read it, but it would impress some people whilst I beat ChatGPT into submission.
Even the best programming book in the universe won’t help if the environment, leadership and team don’t support your efforts.
Only answer I would choose if only one book. I don't care if it's slightly dated, programming fundamentals are the same.
There's more real material in that slim book than in many a thousand page doorstop out there, yet at the same time it's easy to follow.