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What others in the trenches say about The Pragmatic Programmer ... “The cool thing about this book is that it's great for keeping the programming process fresh. The book helps you to continue to grow and clearly comes from people who have been there.” — Kent Beck , author of Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change “I found this book to be a great mix of solid advice and wonderful analogies!” — Martin Fowler , author of Refactoring and UML Distilled “I would buy a copy, read it twice, then tell all my colleagues to run out and grab a copy. This is a book I would never loan because I would worry about it being lost.” — Kevin Ruland , Management Science, MSG-Logistics “The wisdom and practical experience of the authors is obvious. The topics presented are relevant and useful.... By far its greatest strength for me has been the outstanding analogies—tracer bullets, broken windows, and the fabulous helicopter-based explanation of the need for orthogonality, especially in a crisis situation. I have little doubt that this book will eventually become an excellent source of useful information for journeymen programmers and expert mentors alike.” — John Lakos , author of Large-Scale C++ Software Design “This is the sort of book I will buy a dozen copies of when it comes out so I can give it to my clients.” — Eric Vought , Software Engineer “Most modern books on software development fail to cover the basics of what makes a great software developer, instead spending their time on syntax or technology where in reality the greatest leverage possible for any software team is in having talented developers who really know their craft well. An excellent book.” — Pete McBreen , Independent Consultant “Since reading this book, I have implemented many of the practical suggestions and tips it contains. Across the board, they have saved my company time and money while helping me get my job done quicker! This should be a desktop reference for everyone who works with code for a living.” — Jared Richardson , Senior Software Developer, iRenaissance, Inc. “I would like to see this issued to every new employee at my company....” — Chris Cleeland , Senior Software Engineer, Object Computing, Inc. “If I'm putting together a project, it's the authors of this book that I want. . . . And failing that I'd settle for people who've read their book.” — Ward Cunningham Straight from the programming trenches, The Pragmatic Programmer cuts through the increasing specialization ...… (more)
User reviews
Some of the advice is actionable, but some is theoretical
It's an easy read, but rarely rises above the programming analog of "eat well and exercise regularly".
Some fun (and funny) quotes:
"Don't live with broken windows."
"Use tracer bullets to find the target."
"Prototyping generates disposable code. Tracer code is lean but complete, and forms part of the skeleton of the final system. Think of prototyping as the reconnaissance and intelligence gather that takes place before a single tracer bullet is fired."
"Check their spelling, first automatically and then by hand. After awl, their are spelling miss steaks that the chequer can knot ketch."
"Distributed systems such as EJB are leading the way into a new age of configurable, dynamic systems."
"We who cut mere stones must always be envisioning cathedrals." - Quarry worker's creed
"The limits of language are the limits of one's world." - Ludwig Wittgenstein
I still follow much of their advice, like investing in my knowledge portfolio, taking time to learn New Stuff. The month I spent learning FORTH is chalked up to experience, and I will probably never get to use my inside knowledge of the Z39.50 protocol (which is how Library Thing talks to library catalogues worldwide), but I tried Python and I now use it every day. Some investments pay big dividends!
Thank you, Pragmatic Programmers!
One inaccuracy deserves to be noted: The authors' citation of experimental validation of the "broken windows" theory seems to be based on a folkloric retelling of the old Phil Zimbardo experiment - Zimbardo's account of this experiment is in The Lucifer Effect, and it's somewhat different from Hunt and Thomas's version.
Just so you know...
All of the unspoken aspects of software development study skills. And as checklist of hard skills to acquire. I really enjoyed this and will constantly revisit
This is an excellent book if you have already programmed a bit and are looking for something to elevate your skills up a notch to a more professional level.
As some of the topics in this book were beyond my scope of understanding on the initial reading, I will definitely be re-reading this in the future once I have gained more experience.