In the last weeks I used to read The Pragmatic Programmer: from Journeyman to Master during my morning commute.

Now that I finished it, I think it is time to start the book review section of this blog.

The book has been written in 1999, but it describes general concepts that are still valid despite it being more than ten years old. Most of the book is about the pragmatic attitude that will turn you into a master of programming.

The word pragmatic comes from the Latin pragmaticus - “skilled in business” — which itself is derived from a Greek meaning “to do.” This is a book about doing.

Of course, there are some technical details that sounds a little bit outdated, but it does not sounds like you are reading a book written too far in the past. That happens because this is a book about programming and software development in general. It is not a book that teaches you how to write code in a new fancy language.

We are pragmatic programmers, right? So, once we learned the principles, it should take us a very short time to master the most fashionable of the programming languages or the newest technology out there.

The book spans from very philosopycal chapters to tips that help you becoming more effective. I liked that the book covers the whole software development process. Read it and you will learn how to design better applications, how to effectively deploy them and how to build terrific teams. It sound good, doesn’t it?

If you are not willing to read the book (Shame on you!), you should at least have a look at the pragmatic software development tips. They are a super-condensed version of the book. Just follow them and your software development skills will skyrocket.