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New Programmer's Survival Manual: Navigate Your Workplace, Cube Farm, or Startup
It's your first day on the new job. You've got the programming chops, you're up on the latest tech, you're sitting at your workstation... now what? New Programmer's Survival Manual gives your career the jolt it needs to get going: essential industry skills to help you apply your raw programming talent and make a name for yourself. It's a no-holds-barred look at what
really
goes on in the office--and how to not only survive, but thrive in your first job and beyond.
Programming at industry level requires new skills - you'll build programs that dwarf anything you've done on your own. This book introduces you to practices for working on large-scale, long-lived programs at a professional level of quality. You'll find out how to work efficiently with your current tools, and discover essential new tools.
But the tools are only part of the story; you've got to get street-smart too. Succeeding in the corporate working environment requires its own savvy. You'll learn how to navigate the office, work with your teammates, and how to deal with other people outside of your department. You'll understand where you fit into the big picture and how you contribute to the company's success. You'll also get a candid look at the tougher aspects of the job: stress, conflict, and office politics.
Finally, programming is a job you can do for the long haul. This book helps you look ahead to the years to come, and your future opportunities--either as a programmer or in another role you grow into.
There's nothing quite like the satisfaction of shipping a product and knowing, "I built that." Whether you work on embedded systems or web-based applications, in trendy technologies or legacy systems, this book helps you get from raw skill to an accomplished professional.
Programming at industry level requires new skills - you'll build programs that dwarf anything you've done on your own. This book introduces you to practices for working on large-scale, long-lived programs at a professional level of quality. You'll find out how to work efficiently with your current tools, and discover essential new tools.
But the tools are only part of the story; you've got to get street-smart too. Succeeding in the corporate working environment requires its own savvy. You'll learn how to navigate the office, work with your teammates, and how to deal with other people outside of your department. You'll understand where you fit into the big picture and how you contribute to the company's success. You'll also get a candid look at the tougher aspects of the job: stress, conflict, and office politics.
Finally, programming is a job you can do for the long haul. This book helps you look ahead to the years to come, and your future opportunities--either as a programmer or in another role you grow into.
There's nothing quite like the satisfaction of shipping a product and knowing, "I built that." Whether you work on embedded systems or web-based applications, in trendy technologies or legacy systems, this book helps you get from raw skill to an accomplished professional.
237 pages, Paperback
First published November 22, 2011
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223 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
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November 28, 2019Overall a good book, you will learn few things from it, or at leats it will be a good refresher, although it is not bringing any new ideas, worth reading.
October 6, 2012
It is a great book for somebody, who is just getting into the career of programming. The tips are short and essential. It's really easy to understand and start applying. The writing is nice and easy. Since I've been a programmer for years, I didn't learn much from it. However, I had a great time reading it - I even took a highlighter and a pen and started making notes on my copy.
August 7, 2024
"New Programmer's Survival Manual" is a book I read late into my career. However, I strongly believe it should be read within the first year of your professional career.
It correctly layers the foundation of what you should focus as a new professional:
1. Set the right expectations for yourself. You're a professional now; code as one. Optimize yourself first, including your programming environment, tools, editor, etc.
2. People skills and finding a mentor is essential. I was very fortunate to stumble upon Apprenticeship Patterns (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) at the right time. Being mentorship material is also an important trait. You can't expect anyone to fix you. You organize yourself and your life, and only after, ask for help!
4. Never stop learning! Maybe you shouldn't read as much as I do. Be more efficient and picky. 😅
5. Kaizen!
6. Mind your head!
7. Find your place!
Funnily enough, the book first introduced me to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment. It's not like I did that assessment test before 2024. 😅 Still, it's worth it, in my opinion. 😉
It correctly layers the foundation of what you should focus as a new professional:
1. Set the right expectations for yourself. You're a professional now; code as one. Optimize yourself first, including your programming environment, tools, editor, etc.
2. People skills and finding a mentor is essential. I was very fortunate to stumble upon Apprenticeship Patterns (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) at the right time. Being mentorship material is also an important trait. You can't expect anyone to fix you. You organize yourself and your life, and only after, ask for help!
4. Never stop learning! Maybe you shouldn't read as much as I do. Be more efficient and picky. 😅
5. Kaizen!
6. Mind your head!
7. Find your place!
Funnily enough, the book first introduced me to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment. It's not like I did that assessment test before 2024. 😅 Still, it's worth it, in my opinion. 😉
July 26, 2017
I think the first half of the book was a pretty solid overview of what the transition from coding for yourself to coding for your job might be like, such as embracing test-driven development and organizing your code better. I also really liked how the author used different languages throughout the book. The references to other books that go into more detail on each topic is very welcome, and you could use it as a good resource for finding other books; many of the books referenced are considered must-reads by most programmers, such as SICP and Mythical Man Month.
However, once you get past the programming portion of the book, the rest of it is basically a 101 on working at a company for the first time. If you've ever taken any business or project management courses, worked and office job, or even just read some books on business, most of the information presented in the latter chapters isn't worth reading.
I think a leaner revised edition with more on best practices as a beginner would make for a much stronger book.
However, once you get past the programming portion of the book, the rest of it is basically a 101 on working at a company for the first time. If you've ever taken any business or project management courses, worked and office job, or even just read some books on business, most of the information presented in the latter chapters isn't worth reading.
I think a leaner revised edition with more on best practices as a beginner would make for a much stronger book.
May 14, 2017
Interesting book for beginners or if you want to go over various aspects of being a Software Developer in a quick and easy read.
The books the author recommends are very good and will lead you to advanced explorations of the discussed topics.
As for negatives, the book's advice seems to be especially tailored to programmers building careers in Fortune 500 companies and not so much in smaller companies (Startups and the like). One of the first signs of this (apart from the author's own biography) was this statement: “... in the waterfall development method that dominates industry: ...”. I'm very likely living on a bubble for having worked in young companies most of my career, but Agile seems much more prevalent in these types of companies.
The books the author recommends are very good and will lead you to advanced explorations of the discussed topics.
As for negatives, the book's advice seems to be especially tailored to programmers building careers in Fortune 500 companies and not so much in smaller companies (Startups and the like). One of the first signs of this (apart from the author's own biography) was this statement: “... in the waterfall development method that dominates industry: ...”. I'm very likely living on a bubble for having worked in young companies most of my career, but Agile seems much more prevalent in these types of companies.
May 20, 2020
Plenty of solid advice I wish I'd had a few years ago.
April 19, 2021
Recommending it to my friend, who just started out.
September 6, 2011
This book, though still in "beta", was a great guide to all the little things you don't know when starting a professional career in software. It covered topics like project management, working with a team, understanding company management, fitting into corporate culture, doing the "right thing" when programming, working with legacy code, testing, code reviews, long-term career goals, surviving the "long haul" of work, and much more. Each "chapter" was broken into Tips, with each tip focusing one major item. I had the luxury of doing an internship before I started full-time software engineering, and I can say that the advice presented in this book is very relevant to getting started (especially in a Fortune 500 company). Even being a little over a year into my software engineering career, I felt the book invigorated me and gave me a push to be more organized and work with my team more effectively.
March 26, 2014
This book might be a good overview of a lot of concepts pertaining to a software professional's job today. It talks about the whole gamut of such a job's peculiarities - from coding to the social aspects, from corporate aspects to health management all the way to the business side of things.
There are better books out there though that address a lot of these topics. This book constantly cites those former pieces of work, especially about the programming bits. The treatment of topics related to coding might be difficult to grasp for an absolute newbie. I had difficulty concentrating on the topics unrelated to programming addressed in the latter half of the book.
Kudos to the author all the same for assembling something so comprehensive. A good, quick read, but not indispensable.
There are better books out there though that address a lot of these topics. This book constantly cites those former pieces of work, especially about the programming bits. The treatment of topics related to coding might be difficult to grasp for an absolute newbie. I had difficulty concentrating on the topics unrelated to programming addressed in the latter half of the book.
Kudos to the author all the same for assembling something so comprehensive. A good, quick read, but not indispensable.
February 4, 2016
This book contains a lot of good tips for a beginning programmer starting out in the industry. As a short book, it can be easily digested. However, as it is short, many of the topics cannot be covered in detail. A reader will need to augment this book with other books that delve into the many topics raised in more depth.
August 9, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. It helped me to feel like some of the things I have been experiencing as a new programmer are normal. Some of the topics don't apply to me as I don't work for a software company but I think it was a good read and overall, beneficial.
March 9, 2012
As the name suggests, its a must-read book for every new programmer.
May 8, 2013
Not bad, but at the end of the day, it's more for beginners, and as I've been programming for three years, there's little useful knowledge I've gathered from this book.
May 22, 2014
This book I should have read at the start of My career. Good list of references to other books worth reading.
August 1, 2013
A good read. Like someone who has been around telling you the stuff you learn the hard way.
December 2, 2014
Mostly things you probably know already. Not much information that's actually useful.
January 23, 2015
Pretty nice advice for entry level engineer.
January 4, 2018
Nice short intro to being a professional developer
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews