Kevlin Henney

A great book to have as a time-filler on your phone, read a chapter (usually a page or two) at a time while waiting for a bus, coffee, or whatever.

You won't find anything here that'll change your life, and several of the chapters contradict each other, but that's how Software Development goes... finding your own balance between the many extremes is key to enjoying the process.

This book as a collection of two-page reflections on different aspects of programming, each contributed by a different practitioner. The topics range from specific practical items, such as the use of comments or specific design patterns, to the philosophical, such as why programmers should read the humanities.

There were some articles with interesting and new ideas. But as someone who has been programming professionally for more than twenty years those were definitely the minority. show more Nevertheless, the articles, even those covering old ground, were nicely written, and I picked up a lot of new ways to think about and describe old ideas.

The small bite-sized pieces make the book an easy read, and also had the benefit of forcing the writers to get their points across succinctly. show less

A mixed bag. More useful I think for the less experienced developer, but some good nuggets in here to keep in mind. Loaning it to a couple team members who I think will get some benefit from it.

Good read for those who are into programming or development and need a good of general advice straight from professionals who had longer years of experience in the field. Doesn't focus on specific language , e.g. Java, PHP, C/C++ but rather as a general view/inputs from a developer's perspective.