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How to be a Programmer

Posted by michael on from the learning-to-like-mountain-dew-and-pizza dept.

Martin L. Smith writes "Rob Read has posted his magnum opus, "How to be a Programmer: A Short, Comprehensive and Personal Summary" to Samizdat Press where it can be scarfed by the masses. Rob's book is a forty-page tour through the million-and-one things he thinks a programmer ought to know as he sets out into deep water. One of the reasons he posted this was to get some feedback, so tell him what you think. Samizdat Press is maintained by the Colorado School of Mines to provide a distribution point for free (mostly earth-sciences related) texts."

3 of 420 comments (clear)

  1. My advice... by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There is no substitute for experience, but there is something resembling a fast track.

    Get paired to a senior programmer/systems engineer

    If you have the opportunity to work with a senior on a one-to-one basis, grab it with both hands. There will not be many times when an experienced guy is willing to work with you or coach you, so rejoice when the opportunity presents itself, take it. A colleague of mine asked me which project he should take: a glamorous one where he would be working in a large team with no coaching, or a boring-looking but difficult job, working under one senior programmer. I adviced him to take the latter... which he did, and while he often complained about the job itself, his programming skills improved by leaps and bounds, which made him a senior programmer on the next assignment. I was glad to see he has taken it upon himself to teach in the same manner and spend lots of time with the junior guys.

    --
    If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  2. Okay, enough pronoun bashing by rela · · Score: 5, Interesting
    This has been up, what, 15 minutes, and already all I can see is posts bashing his use of feminine pronouns. No comments on the text itself? It's got some good points that would apply to working on any kind of project, not just programming.

    I especially like:

    There is a lot of room for miscommunication about estimates, as people have a startling tendency to think wishfully that the sentence:

    "I estimate it might be possible if I really understand that problem that it is about 50% likely to be completed in 5 weeks if no one bothers us in that time."

    really means:

    "I promise to have it all done 5 weeks from now."

    Heh heh heh...

  3. The Pragmaic Programmer by Hirofyre · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Another good reference for this type of info is The Pragmatic Programmer. It lays out how to write flexible, dynamic, and adaptable code, as well avoiding traps that a lot of new programmers fall into. It takes the time to explain the "why's" behind a lot of the engineering approaches advanced programmers take. It is definitely aimed at "junior" programmers, though. Usually when we get someone just out of collage, I point them to this book.