Code Obsession

This book, available for free download on InfoQ.com, is an excellent intro to/summary of Evans' DDD book. What I really appreciate about this book is that at 104 pages it is short enough I can recommend it even to my near-illiterate developer friends who would never attempt to tackle Evans' 560 pages. ;-) The definitions of the key terms in Domain Modeling are clear and concise. The examples are short and simple which forces them to cut straight to the heart of the concept they demonstrate. While this book doesn't go as deep as Evans' book, it is excellent as a review or intro. I intend to have my entire team read through it asap during our ongoing training. Key to Domain-Driven Design is the concept of the Ubiquitous Language. This book helps define the terms used in the Ubiquitous Language of software development. Communication is the key to success in our industry and having a common language facilitates quick, clear communication between developers. Read the ...

Robert Glass' Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering was an interesting read because it focuses so much on the research that has been done in our field. Contrast that with the much more common anecdotal teaching style and this book becomes very valuable for the industry. Honestly, most of the facts are well known, they just may not be accepted as facts. This is a quick read and worthwhile. The emphasis on research and evidence alone is worthwhile.

I recently read Pete McBreen's Software Craftsmanship: The New Imperative. This was a pretty interesting book and it was excellent timing because I finished it just before Dan North published his post that set off an avalanche of debate about the topic. What can I say... Hmm. After all the debate, I still consider myself to be a craftsman. Why? That is an interesting question. I think that there is misunderstanding about the movement. I think craftsmanship is all about building maintainable software and training the next generation of programmers to build maintainable software. As a professional, ROI is king. Everything I do, from personal study to TDD to CI to leading group discussions about the craft is so that my team can produce better, more maintainable software that produces long term business value. This is what makes me a craftsman. I have seen too many projects lose focus and become unmaintainable piles of crap. I have seen too many failed rewrites. I have se...