Code Obsession

TL;DR - If you care about software development at all, read this book now! This book is a condensation and distillation of more than 40 years of industry experience. It is an amazing read. The book expresses the concept of professionalism in the clear, simple (not simplistic,) unapologetic style that Bob uses in all his writing. At a short 204 pages, you can read it in a weekend (like I did.) Having been involved in Agile (XP, XPish, ScrumBut) projects for several years and recently in the software craftsmanship movement, many of the concepts in the book were familiar. The chapters on Saying Yes, Saying No and Estimation really spoke to me. I have had many experiences where I have agreed to "try." Now I see the danger of that statement clearly. I have also had experiences where I have stayed firm on my estimates and been encouraged to feel as though I was not a committed team player. I now have additional tools to help me combat that feeling and take professional actions desp...

Throughout the recent debate catalyzed by Dan North , I have spent a significant amount of time thinking about what this profession is that I have chosen to pursue and what it means to me. During the debate Corey Haines and Dan had on Twitter today, my thoughts crystallized and I felt compelled to record them. I doubt that many will read this, but if nothing else, it will allow me to measure my progress when I come back and reread it later. While I self identify as a Software Craftsman, like Corey, I find that I agree with Dan regarding the movement. Maybe I agree with Dan because I self identify as a craftsman. No one else calls me a craftsman. There was no exam, no council of masters, just me and a desire to write less crappy software. So what does it all mean? What is Software Craftsmanship? Well, it means not writing crap code , obviously! But what is crap code? I have never in the last 10 years worked with a developer who set out to write crap code. Working at a Fortune...