The pragmatic programmer : your journey to mastery / Dave Thomas, Andy Hunt.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-291) and index.

Chapter 1: A Pragmatic Philosophy: Topic 1. It's Your Life -- Topic 2. The Cat Ate My Source Code -- Topic 3. Software Entropy -- Topic 4. Stone Soup and Boiled Frogs -- Topic 5. Good-Enough Software -- Topic 6. Your Knowledge Portfolio -- Topic 7. Communicate! -- Chapter 2: A Pragmatic Approach: Topic 8. The Essence of Good Design -- Topic 9. DRY-The Evils of Duplication -- Topic 10. Orthogonality -- Topic 11. Reversibility -- Topic 12. Tracer Bullets -- Topic 13. Prototypes and Post-it Notes -- Topic 14. Domain Languages -- Topic 15. Estimating -- Chapter 3: The Basic Tools: Topic 16. The Power of Plain Text -- Topic 17. Shell Games -- Topic 18. Power Editing -- Topic 19. Version Control -- Topic 20. Debugging -- Topic 21. Text Manipulation -- Topic 22. Engineering Daybooks -- Chapter 4: Pragmatic Paranoia -- Topic 23. Design by Contract -- Topic 24. Dead Programs Tell No Lies -- Topic 25. Assertive Programming -- Topic 26. How to Balance Resources -- Topic 27. Don't Outrun Your Headlights -- Chapter 5: Bend, or Break: Topic 28. Decoupling -- Topic 29. Juggling the Real World -- Topic 30. Transforming Programming -- Topic 31. Inheritance Tax -- Topic 32. Configuration -- Chapter 6: Concurrency: Topic 33. Breaking Temporal Coupling -- Topic 34. Shared State Is Incorrect State -- Topic 35. Actors and Processes -- Topic 36. Blackboards -- Chapter 7: While You Are Coding: Topic 37. Listen to Your Lizard Brain -- Topic 38. Programming by Coincidence -- Topic 39. Algorithm Speed -- Topic 40. Refactoring -- Topic 41. Test to Code -- Topic 42. Property-Based Testing -- Topic 43. Stay Safe Out There -- Topic 44. Naming Things -- Chapter 8: Before the Project: Topic 45. The Requirements Pit -- Topic 46. Solving Impossible Puzzles -- Topic 47. Working Together -- Topic 48. The Essence of Agility -- Chapter 9: Pragmatic Projects: Topic 49. Pragmatic Teams -- Topic 50. Coconuts Don't Cut It -- Topic 51. Pragmatic Starter Kit -- Topic 52. Delight Your Users -- Topic 53. Pride and Prejudice

"The Pragmatic Programmer is one of those rare tech books you'll read, re-read, and read again over the years. Whether you're new to the field or an experienced practitioner, you'll come away with fresh insights each and every time. Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt wrote the first edition of this influential book in 1999 to help their clients create better software and rediscover the joy of coding. These lessons have helped a generation of programmers examine the very essence of software development, independent of any particular language, framework, or methodology, and the Pragmatic philosophy has spawned hundreds of books, screencasts, and audio books, as well as thousands of careers and success stories. Now, twenty years later, this new edition re-examines what it means to be a modern programmer. Topics range from personal responsibility and career development to architectural techniques for keeping your code flexible and easy to adapt and reuse. Read this book, and you'll learn how to: Fight software rot; Learn continuously; Avoid the trap of duplicating knowledge; Write flexible, dynamic, and adaptable code; Harness the power of basic tools; Avoid programming by coincidence; Learn real requirements; Solve the underlying problems of concurrent code; Guard against security vulnerabilities; Build teams of Pragmatic Programmers; Take responsibility for your work and career; Test ruthlessly and effectively, including property-based testing; Implement the Pragmatic Starter Kit; Delight your users. Written as a series of self-contained sections and filled with classic and fresh anecdotes, thoughtful examples, and interesting analogies, The Pragmatic Programmer illustrates the best approaches and major pitfalls of many different aspects of software development. Whether you're a new coder, an experienced programmer, or a manager responsible for software projects, use these lessons daily, and you'll quickly see improvements in personal productivity, accuracy, and job satisfaction. You'll learn skills and develop habits and attitudes that form the foundation for long-term success in your career."--Publisher's description.