Rating: 
Summary: Phlegmatically Speaking . . .
Review: I have gifted this book to two aspirant programmers. One inhaled the contents and found several nuggets of truth that were worth the reading. It's written in short blocks of text for the commuting reader, and the flow is up to the reader. Find what interests you and dig in. There is one obvious plug for Ruby--and the definitive work when this book was published was written by the authors.
Rating: 
Summary: Old dogs and new tricks
Review: I came to this book at a low time in my life. I had been working in software for over 12 years and I was beginning to think that I was an old fossil that no longer knew anything about how to write code "these" days. This book reassured me that I still knew what I was talking about and that my experience still had relevance in today's software environments. For that, I cannot thank the authors enough.What I liked most about the book is how it is based in the real world. This isn't an airy-fairy book about how things should be done but what the authors have discovered as they have progressed through their careers. I must admit that a lot of it strikes a resonance within me, especially the areas that I feel that I am weak on. In many ways the book confirmed many of my long-held beliefs (e.g. the command line is a "good" thing ... for developers). However, it encouraged me to think more about documentation (i.e. building it in) and meta-programming (to cut down on duplication and ease code generation). I have thought about this issues from time to time but Andy and Dave help you to realise that this can work for you, and cut down the overall amount of work you have to do. I had always avoided meta-programming since getting the immediate task completed always "seemed" more important at the time. I cannot praise this book enough. It covers the praticalities of working in software in a way the Steve McConnell's Code Complete does not. I think the chatty style is what makes the difference. Code Complete, which I admire in many ways, seems far more dry than The Pragmatic Programmer. I would recommend that a engineer read both books since CC covers so many basic issues that it is difficult to fault (expect for the positioning of braces in C code) whereas TPP is ground in the practicalities of what does, and does not, work within a wide variety of environments. I would heartily recommend TPP to anyone, especially to those that have been working in software development for a few years.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent tips for all programmers
Review: In this book Hunt and Thomas have compiled a collection of 70 tips, thoughts, and techniques that are a must-study for every programmer regardless of skill or experience. The tips cover all programming topics. Issues include programming style, languages, time management, planning, customer relationships, and spotlights on the project lifecycle. Some of the tips in the book seem obvious, but are often forgotten even by experienced programmers. Some tips are things that I initially was surprised by, but after reading the thorough explanation the topic came to light and became clear. This is a good book that can be read off and on in sections, picked up at any time for a quick refresher on good programming. I would heartily recommend this book for all programmers, whether you're a casual dabbler in VB, a web perl scripter, or you write unix system utilities in C.
Rating:
Summary: nice to have such books in the IT intustry
Review: This book was definitely written by people who
like what they do and like doing it really good.
If you are such a person who happens to have anything
with making of software then I'd sicerely suggest
you to read it.
For me ,the book serves as a reminder of things that
has been hidden under the dust of the daily life.
Rating:
Summary: A genuine craftmanship manual
Review: In "The Pragmatic Programmer", the 3 authors condense many years of 'on-the-job' experience. The tone is pragmatic and does away with scholar or theoretical software engineering concepts like the waterfall approach in favor of what just works and gets things done well. This book talks about what is usually not talked about at school and presents a "way of programming" that has more to do with craftmanship than science. I am grateful to the authors and contributors of this book to share this knwoledge. This book will offer anyone starting or pursuing a career as a programmer good advice and possibility for improvement some way or another.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not great
Review: I read the glowing reviews here and then browsed it at the bookstore...where it looked pretty good...When I took it home and started reading it, a different picture evolved...Here are a few nuggets:
1. Much of what the authors espouse is just common sense and would be picked up or developed by most bright developers on their own.
2. Some of what the authors espouse is just wrong...we have suggestions that if your code is correct then it will take little effort to make it run on Win16, Win 32 , and different flavors of Unix or whatever environment. I disagree. This would only be true for the most trivial programs. Even using a factory pattern, as opposed to the usual compiler switches, one could build such a losely coupled and modern system to run on different environments...but it would hardly be easy to do because the different environments require separate (and hardwon!) skillsets/knowledge...not easy to find in one developer...Perhaps the authors should try their hand on some cross-browser, cross operating system DHTML...and make sure it runs on all versions of Netscape to boot.
3. The authors elevating of the text editor and command line over IDE is just non-sense...and again wrong...they say you cannot configure the IDEs...anyone who has written an add-in for VB knows it is indeed possible.
4. I could go on, but I will conclude with their total lack of understanding of Physics which they quote wrongly...the Universe does not split(Shroedinger's cat) after a measurement and Heisenberg said it was ,IN PRINCIPAL, impossible to perform certain measurements without disturbing the system...On the other hand, it is perfectly possible to perform debugging without disturbing the code...
5. And they have the audacity to call their book "...from journeyman to master." Having said all of that, there are good ideas to provoke one's computing thinking in this book...and so while I would recommend it, just be careful to examine their suggestions critically before adopting them.
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading, but light compared to Steve McConnell
Review: The title "The Pragmatic Programmer" is very apt. Not a book written by a professor for teaching, this book is written by actual programmers to be read and used by actual programmers. There is a wealth of sound practical advice, and a gift for the memorable phrase or anecdote. I found this book to be a useful refresher, and well worth reading. The writing style is excellent - clear, entertaining, appropriate level of humour. However I've given it only three stars. My favourite book on programming, "Code Complete" by Steve McConnell, is equally readable, but covers similar ground in far more depth. I make Code Complete required reading for my programming teams. The Pragmatic Programmer doesn't make it past "Suggestions for further reading".
Rating:
Summary: And you thought you were a real programmmer
Review: This must be one of very few books I never felt like putting down. Quite a daunting task for any programming book. The reason for not wanting to put it down is probably related to the fact that it should strike a cord with every person that writes code. It effectively force you to ask: Am I writing programs or am I a programmer? If you don't understand this question becuase you think there is no difference then you should definitely read this book. The techniques and habits the authors describe are very useful. Even if you may not have a use for every single one in every single project, I am quite convinced that you may over a career find all of them useful. The author's don't propogate that this set of ideas are a complete set - what they do propogate, however, is that programmers should work smarter not harder, and that one obviously achieves by thinking about what you are doing (and learning form other - like this book). The writing style is very entertaining and thus makes a good read. I would say that this book is indespensable in your personal growth as a programmer. It may just prompt you to adapt your way of doing from being a "child" programmer to becoming a "real" ("adult") programmer. If you think you are already a "real" programmer, like I thought, then this book should make you realize that one is never to old to learn, that one should never stop thinking about what (and how) you are doing. Enjoy a great read.
Rating:
Summary: A Wealth of Wisdom
Review: Some of the items in this book are common sense, and yet I still found myself thinking about things in a new way after reading this book. The authors make the information very approachable and enjoyable to read. With item titles such as The Cat Ate My Software and Stone Soup and Boiled Frogs, they use humor to get across good practices in the work place. The items touch on all aspects of the development life cycle as well as some general workplace issues such as communication and maintaining your skills. What really makes the advice valuable, though, is that it is not pie in the sky theory, but rather practicle guidelines that are can be used day in and day out. Whatever type of programming you do, this book will help you do it better.
Rating:
Summary: Another Tool In The Toolchest
Review: This book contains a good spread of techniques for making you a better software engineer. It discusses aspects of software development from refactoring to design by contract and a little about how each can be used effectively. Those who are familiar with these techniques may find the book a little simple (or, at least, a quick read), but if you are looking for exposure to a variety of ways to improve your engineering approach, I recommend this book.
| 
