What I wish I had is a book that introduces control engineering in some depth for software folks like me.<p>I wanted to write such a book, or half of such a book, as a second part of <i>Knative in Action</i>. I wrote a simulator[0] and did a ton of reading which felt like I'd barely scratched the surface of the surface.<p>But really, there's just no room for what I wanted to do. Based on a simple estimate it would have run to about 200 pages on top of another 250 pages of actually-about-Knative material. So that whole section wound on the cutting room floor. Maybe another time.<p>In terms of books I felt helped me the <i>most</i> down this road, here's a reasonable reading list I'd point to:<p><i>Feedback Control for Computer Systems: Introducing Control Theory to Enterprise Programmers</i>, by Philipp Janert. Short, to-the-point introduction to basic classical control theory using PID controllers.<p><i>Matching Supply with Demand: An Introduction to Operations Management</i> by Cachon and Terweisch. A short, meant-for-MBAs textbook on operations management (ie applied operations research). Simple and approachable. Very good for warming up to...<p><i>Factory Physics</i> by Hopp and Spearman. Magisterial in scope, also magisterial in grumpiness and idiosyncracy. I've directly applied material from this book and <i>Matching</i> to research work.<p><i>Business Dynamics</i> by Sterman. Still the best system dynamics book I've ever read. I'm anxiously waiting for the 2nd edition, expected circa 2021.<p><i>Performance Modeling and Design of Computer Systems: Queueing Theory in Action</i> by Harchol-Balter. Approachable and enlightening. I stumbled on a few of the proofs and got lost once or twice in thickets of notation, but that's due to my own mathematical immaturity more than the book itself.<p>But I still don't have <i>a</i> book to refer to for the specifics of software dynamics, spanning its physics and economics. And I wish I did. I would love to read that book, if folks can make recommendations.<p>[0] <a href="https://github.com/pivotal/skenario" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/pivotal/skenario</a>