A-list Programmers Reveal How to Develop Breakout Skills
Find out what it takes to push your programming chops to the next level and design killer software by getting inside the minds of today's rock star programmers:
Acknowledgments Introduction
Part 1: Software Technology Experts
Chapter 1. Rod Johnson Chapter 2. Adrian Colyer Chapter 3. The Java Posse Chapter 4. Chris Wilson Chapter 5. Nikhil Kothari Chapter 6. Hani Suleiman Chapter 7. James Gosling Chapter 8. Kohsuke Kawaguchi
Part 2: Software Pedagogy Experts
Chapter 9. Herb Schildt Chapter 10. Floyd Marinescu
Part 3: Software Development Experts
Chapter 11. Andy Hunt Chapter 12. Dave Thomas Chapter 13. Max Levchin and Libor Michalek
Part 4: Actual Rock Star
Chapter 14. Weird Al Yankovic
Appendix A: Index of Common Questions Asked of Interviewees Appendix B: Phillip G. Armour's The Five Orders of Ignorance
Index
ytsejammer
Posted July 11, 2009
I work as an IT consultant and have become somewhat obsessed with things that could help me be more productive and creative. I liked the idea of reading about what (so considered) 'bright and successful' minds think about their skill sets: soft skills such as ability to communicate effectively and finding the work/family balance; hard skills such as the debugging and coding practices that make people better coders and the insights on starting a business and that sort of more entrepreneurial matters.
Reading this book helped me identify a common denominator among these people. I also found interesting to learn about the contrasts between older -more seasoned- and the younger individuals interviewed in the book. Some of them have exactly opposite opinions about the same topic!
The interviews I found more enlightening were Rod Johnson's (founder of the Spring Framework), Adrian Colver's (AspectJ project lead), Hani Suleiman (The 'Bile Blog' author), Andy Hunt (co-founder of the Pragmatic Programmers) and Dave Thomas (The Object-oriented pioneer, not the Pragmatic Programmer).
I missed people like Martin Fowler, Alistair Cockburn, Kent Beck and some other people I consider authorities in the IT field. This of course brings up the question of who is the ultimate authority to call a person a 'Rock Star'. I guess I have that same feeling one usually has after realizing that your favorite band's latest 'Greatest Hits' album does not contain your most beloved tunes. :)
Most of the information in the book can be either found on technology blogs and sites such as InfoQ or the many podcasts available on the net. I guess I bought it because I am more used to have the piece of paper in front of me. All in all, the book is fun reading for those interested in the ways of successful IT people.
Overview
A-list Programmers Reveal How to Develop Breakout Skills
Find out what it takes to push your programming chops to the next level and design killer software by getting inside the minds of today's rock star programmers: