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title = "97 Things Every Programmer Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts - Kevlin Henney"
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date = 2020-03-22
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updated = 2020-10-26
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[taxonomies]
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tags = ["books", "reviews", "it", "3 stars", "books:2020"]
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+++
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[GoodReads Summary](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7003902-97-things-every-programmer-should-know):
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Tap into the wisdom of experts to learn what every programmer should know, no
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matter what language you use. With the 97 short and extremely useful tips for
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programmers in this book, you'll expand your skills by adopting new approaches
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to old problems, learning appropriate best practices, and honing your craft
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through sound advice.
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<!-- more -->
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{{ stars(stars=3) }}
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It's kinda weird to read a book that your experience agrees with what it is
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said: I have a collection of things I learnt in 30 years doing software
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development, and a lot of things said in the book agree with it.
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Now, because there are several authors, the writing style changes a lot: Some
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are really dense and difficult to follow, some others are simple and fun to
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read, and some feel really repetitive.
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One of the downsides of the book is that they should get a more diverse group.
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Sure, Uncle Bob is highly influential and has a lot of good tips, but giving
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him 3 articles, when there are only 6 women and 2 black men in the list of
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authors seems kinda a waste[^1].
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Sure, for people starting in the development world, it's a good book, giving
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some pointers on where to start, but for people who are in the area for some
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time (and may already read some books/posts about the topics), it may feel a
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bit like a waste of time.
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## Highlights
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> Repetition in Process Calls for Automation
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> Repetition in Logic Calls for Abstraction
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> learn much faster by writing test code
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> ANYONE WHO HAS WORKED IN SOFTWARE LONG ENOUGH has heard questions like this:
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> I’m getting exception XYZ. Do you know what the problem is?
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*Note*: I get that *a lot*!
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> As you work on a project, you will understand more of the problem domain
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> and, hopefully, find more effective ways of reaching the goal
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> Hint: Write code because it adds value, not because it amuses you.)
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*Note*: Well, and what actually "adds value"? Does refactoring something adds
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value, if the only thing it does is making it easier for *me* to understand?
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> That isn’t YAGNI. If you don’t need it right now, don’t write it right now.)
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> The primary purpose of software estimation is not to predict a project’s
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> outcome; it is to determine whether a project’s targets are realistic enough
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> to allow the project to be controlled to meet them
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> Try to learn from other people’s mistakes, so that your code won’t contain
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> the same ones.
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*Note*: Work on new mistakes :)
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> IN ALL BUT THE SMALLEST DEVELOPMENT PROJECT, people work with people.
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> Compared to “hard” engineering, the software development world is at about
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> the same place the bridge builders were when the common strategy was to
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> build a bridge and then roll something heavy over it. If it stayed up, it
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> was a good bridge. If not, well, time to go back to the drawing board
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> A bridge builder would never hear from his boss, “Don’t bother doing
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> structural analysis on that building—we have a tight deadline.
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---
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[^1]: No, I'm not saying that Uncle Bob isn't worth getting 3 spots, so maybe
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the list should have more than 97 points to let others also have a spot.
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