Book review: The Pragmatic Programmer

I think I’m going to be brief about this one. Everything you ever heard or read about this book is true. If you don’t have this book already, then go get it right now because you are missing out on a lot of essential stuff. Although most of its content has been scattered around in many blog posts over the last couple of years, I learned a lot of new things.

What strikes me the most about this book is the fact that it has been published in 1999 (yes, almost an entire century in IT years). The content is far from outdated and could still be marked as innovative. I definitely know some co-workers and other people who could benefit a tremendous deal by reading this book.

The book is built around 46 short, self-containing sections with 70 different tips that will guide you to become a better programmer. The topics on orthogonality, reversibility, the DRY principle and the Law of Demeter really struck a nerve.

If you are serious about your profession, then you got to have this book and read it from cover to cover. There are only a few books that I want to reread at least once a year (PoEAA, DDD, etc. …). This book has now joined the club.