Our Book Club Reads: The Pragmatic Programmer

Our Book Club Reads: The Pragmatic Programmer

We grow upon facing a challenge, our minds expand with the introduction to ideas and viewpoints. We progress when we understand and share opinions, and act upon our intentions. Without a fear of failure, we complement each other's strengths and innovate in a field full of potential and positive greatness. We learn from our experiences and analyze the outputs.

One of the HASELT core values lies within the curiosity and inspiration. We are curious to know about, learn things, and inspire others with our work and actions.

Which are the best ways to learn, though? - The answers are many, but there is one generic answer that perseveres the test of time - by reading books.

"The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.” - Rene Descartes

Since we have people from different backgrounds that share common mission and values whose opinions and views are greatly respected, we figured a book club within our organization would be a great idea. After all, the challenges are what bring us together and allow us to grow.

Our book club focuses on the core interests of our people - Computer Science, Software Engineering, Architectures and practices, Psychology, Productivity, and Communication.

Having said that, the first book on our list was one of the most recommended in our community - The Pragmatic Programmer - From Journeyman to Master, by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas.

We chose it as a starting point because it depicts a lot of truths that are acquired through experience. What makes this book different from the other programming books, is the fact that it addresses how to improve your coding skills on both: technical and personal level.

Andrew Hunt and David Thomas advise the readers to become aware, able to predict, able to plan, reuse and learn a few strategies on how to approach the core software development processes. They deliver the importance of the programmers’ personal responsibility and their part in the software architecture flow. Through simple real live examples - they deliver timeless advice on being a true pragmatic programmer.

We organize the book readings to last about three months per book, allowing the readers the freedom to read, reflect and prepare for a final book review meeting. During the reading period, we use an online discussion software, to discuss ideas and conclusions on the go.

Before we have the final book review meeting scheduled, we prepare notes and ideas to share among ourselves and define the agenda. Naturally, this requires a moderator that follows the agenda and leads the discussion.

The content of The Pragmatic Programmer triggered a discussion between our colleagues on the book review meeting, as we shared a lot of insightful examples and views. This was a classic book on programming that brought us together and allowed us to grow even more.

In conclusion, a book club allows us to talk about ideas and book-related topics between ourselves, so we can see other views, and understand how to apply them to our everyday work. It truly is an amazing experience to have an educated discussion on topics we all are interested in, or have an opinion on.

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The book we are preparing for the next session is the Clean Code by Robert C. Martin. Another classic book on programming we are looking forward reflecting on.

Follow us while we share the experiences from our next book club adventures.

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