Little substance. Dreadful.

I have to first say that I only half finished this book. I just couldn't continue.

This is one person's perspective on what it is to be a programmer in 'corporate america'.
The author gives you the impression that everyone around him is an idiot and incompetent.
Perhaps he had the misfortune of truely working for some lousy companies.


There is not much to learn from this book. In fact, this book could have been condensed
to less than half its current size. You will not learn how to be a better programmer,
manage projects better (this is by no means a book on project management), ways to build
better software, or grow your career.

Creating good software is difficult. The more complex, the more difficult it is.
The difficulty is increased by not having a team (that includes management) where each person
is contributing towards the project in a meaningful way. Each person must have their role in the
project well defined and the team must function well together. For example (read his chapter on
defining requirements) do you really want to go heck and peck to get the project requirements?
Should you have to? If you are working in an environment that isn't well structured for software
development, you were unfortunate. Do yourself the favor, quit and move on. It's better elsewhere.

Other Reviews

• Little substance. Dreadful.
• Good Read for the Corporate Programmer
• Perspective from one in the known
• Pragmatic approach to dealing with business people
• Recommended reading for programmers new and old