Currently Reading: The Pragmatic Programmer

Straight from the programming trenches, The Pragmatic Programmer cuts through the increasing specialization and technicalities of modern software development to examine the core process--taking a requirement and producing working, maintainable code that delights its users. It covers topics ranging from personal responsibility and career development to architectural techniques for keeping your code flexible and easy to adapt and reuse.

Actually, I finished this quickly, before I had a chance to update the blog. Capsule review: Eh.

Not that it isn't interesting, but it suffers from "manifestoitis" - if you already agree with the authors, it's "preaching to the choir"; if you disagree, this is not terribly likely to change your mind.

Worse, in some ways, the book's examples frequently lack meaningful specifics, coming across as dogma - the bad kind of dogma. ("Don't be a boiled frog" - okay, but is Doing X being a boiled frog, or Not Doing X?)

Still, all that said, there are people I know who could really benefit from reading this.

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