Chapter 11 is titled “interview anti-Patterns”. This chapter talks about the wrong processes to go about conducting an interview as a developer. They should avoid doing things like being a smart-ass interviewer, using brainteasers, asking unnecessary  questions, and trying to seem superior in knowledge. After we’ve worked hard to find a qualified candidate, the last thing we want to do is steal the opportunity they have to shine. We want to convince them that our company is the best they can work for, because a good developer will also be looking for a company that is best for them.

Chapter 12 talks about the cost of  low morale and how unmotivated people seem to represent that very well. Unmotivated people tend to destroy companies because this can change the motivation of other workers significantly. I believe that the attitude of the people you work with can have a huge impact on the way you work; they can either motivate you or suck the morale out of you. In this chapter we learn that people become like that and that is mostly due to companies beating the passion out of developers. Manager and agile coaches are the last people to motivate developers because they are demanding and punctual about everything. The only person that can motivate a developer is another developer. Not just any developer, but a software craftsman that every team needs.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Adestin by adestinyblog and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Growing up, I always thought you had to choose between making a difference in the world and having a career that pays really good. As it turns out, after reading this book, you can have both; as a software craftsman! I really enjoy reading this book throughout all of its chapters. There was definitely a good amount of valuable information but it was written in a way where a lot of important concepts were constantly echoed throughout the book; such as being passionate about what you do, always leaving the code you work on cleaner than when you first started and of course, realizing that its bigger than just you.

Reflecting back, I used to have the mindset of never wanting to share or collaborate with anyone else because I felt as though it was my code, and my code only. Now, I just chuckle at how ignorant and unknowledgeable I was. If there was only one concept I could retain from these readings, (not including passion) it would be the ideology that software projects are not just about us and our egos. To become better software developers (and better people overall) we have to think about the bigger picture. We have to make sure that the foundation of the code we create and work on is sturdy; that it will not come crashing down when we, the current developers, are no longer around.

I think one of the reasons why people shy away from legacy code is because the previous developers has created such a crappy foundation of code that we are afraid of moving or changing any piece of code due to the fear that everything is just going to come crashing down. But, it doesn’t have to continue to be that way. We have the power to change that way of thinking because we have the power to change the way we code!

From the blog CS@Worcester – Tan Trieu's Blog by tanminhtrieu and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Chapter 7 addresses a number of technical practices such as TDD, pair programming, SCRUM and their usefulness in improving our software delivery process. These agile methodologies are about delivering value to customers in the shortest time frame possible. Even though these practices are very effective in the software development process, it is difficult to convince manger to adopt them. Many companies do not use these practices because they fail to identify why they need them, when to use them, or simply does not believe that they are effective. It is not easy to get developers to adopt to these practices because there is a learning curve and it will take some time to understand. To figure out which practices to use, first we must know what area we need to improve and what we are trying to achieve.

Chapter 8 is titled “The long Road”. This chapter is perfect for aspiring developers because it talks about what to look for when choosing our careers. It summarized the career requirements into three things autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Having a successful career is not easy; we must figure out where we want to be and work hard to get there. We must treat every job as an investment to craft the career that will makes us happy. And if you are among the ones that do not know where they want to be, this chapter has a lot of suggestions to create options that can help decide the next step. Things like attending conferences, blogging, studying new things, and networking with other developers and business-people can open a lot of doors. Our career is important and carefully crafting it is the best way to reach where we want to be.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Adestin by adestinyblog and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Chapter 5 of The Software Craftsman titled “Heroes, Goodwill, and Professionalism” essentially covers the communication between the client and the programmer.

There is a limit to satisfying the clients needs. From their perspective, they are not aware of how difficult and elaborate the process for a software project is. They usually have a demand and expects immediate and accurate results because after all that is what they pay us for. However, how we handle situations like this in this field is what determines our level of professionalism. It is our job to communicate with our clients and say “no” when they have unrealistic requests. We need to be upfront on what is possible, what is not, and set realistic deadlines so we can have enough time to work with no pressure. If we fail to communicate, then we end up looking unprofessional.

Chapter 6 is title “Working Software” and it is about keeping the quality of our software as polished as it can be. We must never sacrifice quality for the sake of meeting a deadline; that is bad practice. Our software must be written well enough to adjust to changes, otherwise we will become “hostages of our own software”and that will hinder the business progress. This makes perfect sense because as technology advances, our software needs to be able to adapt quickly. Adding new features should be implemented into with ease if we have good quality software. I like how Sandro relates code to a garden. He mentions that ” with basic and regular maintenance, the garden will always look great but if we neglect it, even for a short period of time, it will require much more effort to make it look good again”. I think this comparison accurately describes how we should treat our code. The same thing can happen to our code if we neglect it; it will deteriorate or loose quality and will require more work to regain quality.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Adestin by adestinyblog and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.