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226 reviews for:
The Pragmatic Programmer: 20th Anniversary Edition, 2nd Edition
David Thomas, Andrew Hunt
4.22 AVERAGE
226 reviews for:
The Pragmatic Programmer: 20th Anniversary Edition, 2nd Edition
David Thomas, Andrew Hunt
4.22 AVERAGE
challenging
funny
reflective
medium-paced
medium-paced
For a good reason, this one is considered a classic, definitely must-read book for programmers and people managing programmers. I'll be back for re-read in a few years, for sure.
A bit about the book; Not many surprises here, any programmer who cares about their craft, has no fear of change, and already has a few years of experience will already know a large portion of themes explored in this book. Many suggestions and recommendations are just common sense, but given my near-decade expertise in this field, I understand why some things need to be repeated often. The examples and explanations are not abstract or far-fetched but are somewhat real-world applications of things you could see in the industry (though some stuff is outdated). It's fascinating to see the struggles we still face day in and day out discussed nearly 20 years ago.
The essence of the book is very well summarized by one of its last sentences:
A bit about the book; Not many surprises here, any programmer who cares about their craft, has no fear of change, and already has a few years of experience will already know a large portion of themes explored in this book. Many suggestions and recommendations are just common sense, but given my near-decade expertise in this field, I understand why some things need to be repeated often. The examples and explanations are not abstract or far-fetched but are somewhat real-world applications of things you could see in the industry (though some stuff is outdated). It's fascinating to see the struggles we still face day in and day out discussed nearly 20 years ago.
The essence of the book is very well summarized by one of its last sentences:
People should see your name on a piece of code and expect it to be solid, well-written, tested, and documented. (...) Written by a professional. A Pragmatic Programmer.
A classic collection of best practices every programmer should study.
informative
medium-paced
I hope I'd had read this book early in my career. It would have saved me a lot of time.
The book covers a large set of "tips" for those who endeavor into the programmer path. It's very nice to read something that don't let itself attach to a stigma of a trend. The way things are presented is objective and focused on the utility they represent. Certainly a book that will be kept up to date for a long time.
The book covers a large set of "tips" for those who endeavor into the programmer path. It's very nice to read something that don't let itself attach to a stigma of a trend. The way things are presented is objective and focused on the utility they represent. Certainly a book that will be kept up to date for a long time.
Pragmatic advice indeed. I think every engineer should read it.
For a total beginner, the concepts will be difficult to internalize. For a seasoned programmer (on a good team...), it will be little more than a general reinforcement. While it's hard to imagine the right time in one's career to read the The Pragmatic Programmer (probably, often), it's a classic. It's written at a high enough level that very little material is outdated. In fact, some of the arguments ring much truer now than they would have in 1999.
See this review and others on my blog
See this review and others on my blog
Great book! Some of the concrete examples talk about some outdated technology, but the high level concepts about software development still hold true and are explained in a very straightforward and easy to grasp manner.
This book does a good job of pointing out things you can do to make your programs and your ability to program more efficient. It is presented in a very readable format and contains many examples tying good coding practice with real world things.
My only complaint with this book is that it doesn't skew enough towards C++ and seems a little biased against it. Though they definitely do a good job of pointing out problems you will probably have while using C++.
My only complaint with this book is that it doesn't skew enough towards C++ and seems a little biased against it. Though they definitely do a good job of pointing out problems you will probably have while using C++.