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Summary: Entertaining overview of software development
Review: Good overview of many things that need doing whilst developing software. I don't agree with everything the authors said, but on the whole it was good information. The authors come across as Unix-geeks who believe "command-line is King!". Yes, command-line utilities do have their place, but please, they're not the salvation of software development! Things are discussed from a high-level, so if you want to apply much of what has been discussed then you will need to look for more in-depth information elsewhere, but for junior programmers it is useful to point out what they should be looking for in the first place. For more experienced programmers, treat it as more of a refresher-course (assuming you did learn how to do things properly once upon a time). An entertaining overview of software development - well, more entertaining than some software engineering textbooks I've read!
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Summary: this book rocks!
Review: plain and simple, buy the book. it will help you become a better programmer, regardless of your experience. helpful for anyone working on a software project, be it web or otherwise.
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Summary: It knocked some sense into my head!
Review: Very well written. It uses common sense to prove its points. I read the book in one day, and I found it to be very helpful with everyday programming practices. This book references "The Mythical Man-Month" in a couple of occasions. I bought that book as well; was not too impressed with it. This book, Pragmatic Programmer, is much better and much more reader friendly. I recommended it to all of my co-workers.
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Summary: Good book but just too wordy.
Review: The reviews I read about this book are pretty accurate, except this book is too wordy. It could be 1/2 the size it is if the authors would have gotten to the point faster. A lot of explanations go on and on and I am left wondering when am I going to get to read what the point is?! Get to it! The two authors are certainly qualified to author this book, judging by what their backgrounds are. For the most part, the chapters are interesting, informative, and thought provoking. Most of the ideas are not what the average, or above average programmer would think of. Some of the ideas though are not worth the paper to print them on, and many of them are not explained well enough. Given the amount of words for explanations, this should not have been. Therefore, I can only give this book three stars. Overall I feel that the book is too drawn out and not to the point enough.
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Summary: The wisest book about programming I have read
Review: I think almost any programmer can benefit from reading this book. The book is extremely well written and inspiring. Readers of Kent Beck and Martin Fowler will recognize much of their philosophy (see xprogramming.com). Much of the wisdom in the book is condensed into a set of rules listed at the end which makes a very good summary. So even if you have only 20 minutes you will probably walk away inspired and with new insights. What distinguishes this book from other books about programming that I have read (like the Refactoring book by Martin Fowler) is that this book generalizes principles about coding in a very convincing way (many of the principles could probably be helpful for any engineer, not only programmers). Take for example the well known principle of not duplicating code. The authors generalize this principle and say that information should never be duplicated. This means for example that you should write documentation, but the documentation should not duplicate information that is easy to extract from the code (the documentation could for example present the purpose of code and give an overview). Check out the book for many other equally interesting principles!
Rating:
Summary: excellent use of common sense
Review: This is a fantastic book, and highly recommended, if you are looking for reassurance or guidance in how to approach programming tasks with forethought. The authors touch on several methods to incorporate in the planning and design phase, as well as guidelines for daily use in how you choose the development environment or languages you should work in. This is great stuff, accompanied by excellent examples from the author's experience and eloquently written (for a technical book), interspersed with wisdom and humor. My only complaint is that the book is too high-level (but this is explained early on in the book). I found myself wanting to go more in depth in regards to specific languages or tools suggested in the book and the references they cited were not very helpful. All in all this book is very good, and I see that some people have been using it as a group study guide - what an excellent idea! This book is great for teaching good general purpose programming habits, but not for in-depth study into a single method, tool or language. Nevertheless, you'll find yourself referencing the wisdom it holds again and again.
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Summary: A fresh, thoughtful, engaging approach to programming
Review: I bought this on a friend's recommendation, but expected yet another book rehashing the same standard rules: write comments, don't duplicate code, have plans for your projects, eat your vegetables. Hunt and Thomas vastly exceeded my expectations. This book is never dry, often humorous, and always educational. They don't always say what you expect them to say (e.g., about commenting code), and I didn't always agree with them, but every sentence is full of thoughtful analysis. One of the best features is their incredibly practical advice -- while yes, this book does teach philosophy and encourages thought, it also provides many immediately-implementable suggestions. If you aren't a programmer with 10 years experience, buy it anyway -- it is not just for experienced programmers. While you will absorb less of the book, there is still enough to learn, and it's a great book to keep and re-read. The book includes a pull-out card of the pithy sayings the authors use to sum up each section. Perhaps my mind just doesn't work the way theirs does, but I didn't find their summations to be helpful all the time -- I found myself frequently having to flip back to the section to remember what a particular phrase meant. But it's still useful.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for every programmer
Review: This book, as its subtitle states, is for all programmers "from journeyman to master".
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Summary: Are you programming or hacking?
Review: ...and what's the difference? I've often felt that the difference was attitude. Programmers (or "professionals" if you prefer) were continually thinking about what they did, why they did it and how they could do it better. And I don't just mean searching for a new language ("maybe I should learn Java this week?").The rest of us are just tooling around doing the best we can and wondering why it sometimes doesn't work. "The Pragmatic Programmer" is clearly written by and for professional programmers. Reading it with attention will force you to think deeply about the way you develop software. If your first response is "but this isn't pragmatic" or "I don't have time to do these things" then I encourage you to think again. Perhaps the barrier is change itself. Sure, applying the practices in this book may slow you down in the short term (you always go slower when you're learning a new skill) but the benefits to establishing these practices as habits are enormous. We are working through this book as part of a weekly study group at our office. This seems to be a great way to investigate things you're uncomfortable. And I don't agree with every practice in this book, but please think about them as deeply as you can before you reject them! Whenever I interview someone I ask them what book has most influenced the way they develop software. If they answer "The Pragmatic Programmer" (or "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance") then they have the job!
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Summary: A classic!
Review: I want to give a resounding thank you and "thumbs up" to Andrew Hunt and David Thomas. The Pragmatic Programmer is absolutely great. What a terrific find! I cannot recommend this book highly enough! I was required to read this for a graduate school course, and quite honestly I was a little skeptical about reading a book written by programmers. I am not a programmer, but must communicate with "them" in building systems. I will use this book as reference constantly, and have already recommended it to others. This book cuts through all the language barriers that non-programmers and programmers have and presents information in a very readable format. I appreciate the witty humor combined with straightforward explanations. Bravo and thank you!
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