The Pragmatic Programmer, 20th Anniversary Edition

Post by Godel_unicode » Thu, Sep 19, 2019, 7:15 PM UTC

jsperson wrote: post #41

jkaptur wrote: post #39

I was underwhelmed by this book. I think that so many of the practices (like version control) have become so popular that reading an argument for their use seems superfluous. That also makes it really jarring when it recommends something that decidedly hasn't taken off, like the blackboard design pattern. I had the same experience reading "The Design of Everyday Things". To some extent, these books seem most valuable…

> I think that so many of the practices (like version control) have become so popular that reading an argument for their use seems superfluous. This made me laugh - not because you aren't right (in theory), but because I just took over a project from a big four consulting company. When I asked about the location of the latest version of the code (after looking in VC and not finding it)...answer: on the production ser…

Post by Goronmon » Thu, Sep 19, 2019, 8:02 PM UTC

prepend wrote: post #28

TeMPOraL wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think GP's point is that saying "you need to do X, Y, Z" in moderation" carries nearly zero bits of information. Of course I don't want to overdo or underdo something. But how much is too much? How much is too little? How do I know? And since code is something that accumulates over time, how do I maintain the balance? Answers to these questions is what's needed for coders to do a good job. The original book does en…

You’re lucky it’s intuitive for you. I think it’s valuable to have credible sources backing up my intuition because I’ve worked in orgs that document way too much and way too little. So just calling out a desire for just right documentation (with copious examples) is handy to me so that people don’t idealize no doc systems or spend half their time documenting.

Post by ralphc » Thu, Sep 19, 2019, 8:23 PM UTC

tunnuz wrote: post #16

alasdair_ wrote: post #3

The original version of this book is something I'll always treasure. It sits next to "Code Complete", the Gang of Four's "Design Patterns" book and Martin Fowler's "Refactoring" on my top shelf and I still read parts of it every year.

Would you still recommend the original version? I have a printed copy and tried to read it ages ago, but gave up (it bore me). I am sure I'd appreciate it better now, but with a new edition coming out I'd be wondering whether I'm missing out.

Post by flyGuyOnTheSly » Thu, Sep 19, 2019, 9:02 PM UTC

Post by Bjartr » Thu, Sep 19, 2019, 9:11 PM UTC

Goronmon wrote: post #63

prepend wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re lucky it’s intuitive for you. I think it’s valuable to have credible sources backing up my intuition because I’ve worked in orgs that document way too much and way too little. So just calling out a desire for just right documentation (with copious examples) is handy to me so that people don’t idealize no doc systems or spend half their time documenting.

I think the complaint wasn't that the book was intuitive or not, but that it lacks actionable guidance. "Make sure to write the correct amount of documentation in a clear manner." sounds great on the surface, but doesn't actually help someone who is trying to figure out what the "correct amount of documentation" or "clear manner" actually is.