
“One of the most significant books in my life.” —Obie Fernandez, Author, The Rails Way
“Twenty years ago, the first edition of The Pragmatic Programmer completely changed the trajectory of my career. This new edition could do the same for yours.” —Mike Cohn, Author of Succeeding with Agile, Agile Estimating and Planning, and User Stories Applied
“. filled with practical advice, both technical and professional, that will serve you and your projects well for years to come.” —Andrea Goulet, CEO, Corgibytes, Founder, LegacyCode.Rocks
“. . . lightning does strike twice, and this book is proof.” —VM (Vicky) Brasseur, Director of Open Source Strategy, Juniper Networks
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 rotLearn continuouslyAvoid the trap of duplicating knowledgeWrite flexible, dynamic, and adaptable codeHarness the power of basic toolsAvoid programming by coincidenceLearn real requirementsSolve the underlying problems of concurrent codeGuard against security vulnerabilitiesBuild teams of Pragmatic ProgrammersTake responsibility for your work and careerTest ruthlessly and effectively, including property-based testingImplement the Pragmatic Starter KitDelight your usersWritten 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.
You’ll become a Pragmatic Programmer.
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From the Publisher

A Pragmatic Philosophy
Make no mistake, it is your career, and more importantly, Topic 1, It’s Your Life. You own it. You’re here because you know you can become a better developer and help others become better as well. You can become a Pragmatic Programmer.
What distinguishes Pragmatic Programmers? We feel it’s an attitude, a style, a philosophy of approaching problems and their solutions. They think beyond the immediate problem, placing it in its larger context and seeking out the bigger picture. After all, without this larger context, how can you be pragmatic? How can you make intelligent compromises and informed decisions?

A Pragmatic Approach
There are certain tips and tricks that apply at all levels of software development, processes that are virtually universal, and ideas that are almost axiomatic. However, these approaches are rarely documented as such; you’ll mostly find them written down as odd sentences in discussions of design, project management, or coding. But for your convenience, we’ll bring these ideas and processes together here.
Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
Publication date : September 13, 2019
Edition : 2nd
Language : English
Print length : 352 pages
ISBN-10 : 0135957052
ISBN-13 : 978-0135957059
Item Weight : 1.71 pounds
Dimensions : 7.55 x 0.99 x 9.4 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #8,251 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1 in Software Testing #1 in Software Design & Engineering #2 in Software Development (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars (3,439) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
13 reviews for The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey To Mastery, 20th Anniversary Edition (2nd Edition)
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R. Girgis –
Should be a Required Reading for anyone in Software Engineering
In my opinion, this book should be a required read for anyone of any level and in any position in the software development/engineering field. This book teaches so many solid and timeless principles that could possibly take years or decades for the average person to learn, if ever.Before reading this book, I didn’t know where I stood as a developer after 15 years of doing it. I’m self-taught, and also learned from my surroundings, assuming that people in higher positions than me must know better – now I never assume anything about anyone or anything. I never got much (useful) feedback but I wanted to be as good as I could be in my field. Reading this book and applying what I learned from it eventually lead to a great confidence in my way of problem solving and coding, and this confidence naturally caused me to be happier, and that’s when I realized that when I’m confident and happy I produce my best work that I’m proud of. Not only do I feel like I have leveled up as a software engineer, but I also feel like I leveled up as a person. I also feel validated for a few things I was already doing, and learned that soft skills (communication, accountability, etc) are just as important as hard skills (coding).I’ve already convinced at least 3 developers to buy their own copy, and I’m about to suggest it to a few more, so I think I need to look up some kind of referral/commission program.This book is worth every penny and has me going back to it for reference all the time.
Alexson Coelho –
Fantastic content
Great reading, learn a lot from it.
MJL –
Great book for the working software developer
I received a copy of the original edition of this book over 20 years ago and immediately used it in my introductory software engineering classes. Hunt and Thomas are skilled practitioners who can both identify key practices of the profession and write about these cogently. The current edition is an updated version, one that brings the material up-to-date without sacrificing any of the key insights from the original. Highly recommended for developers at all levels.
David Heigl –
Reader is breathless and too excited, content is good
I’m listening to this audio book as a way to get a hold of the material while doing other things. Rather than being a direct reading, it’s more of a dramatization of the book, which wasn’t really what I was looking for. The reader is bright, enthusiastic and cheery.As for the book itself, it’s a fairly encouraging look at software engineering from two veterans. Worth your attention.
sandeep madineni –
This book is GOLD
The best purchase i ever made. I wish i came across this book much early in my career. I am glad that i found it atleast now.When i got the book i just glimpsed randomly and i thought this would be preachy. But my god i am so happy that i was wrong. Simple yet beautifully written with short stories. There are little nuggets of inspiration and wisdow all over the book like “Show them a glimpse of the future and you will get everyone to rally around”. BTW I am still in the first chapter.This should be the christmas present for all the programmers.
Jeffry K. Lefevre –
Wisdom Both Conventional and Unconventional
While, admittedly, I haven’t finished the book – so far – this book has contained wisdom a reader might have come across at school, from senior developers, or from books such as Robert C. Martin’s ‘Clean Code’.However, while some of the wisdom and knowledge might cross over in a Venn diagram with ‘Clean Code’; there’s some great advice here that’s worth putting into practice. I don’t necessarily agree with all of it. To each his own. But, I’ve found much that makes this book worth owning.
Nicholas Main –
Great content; good read
I really enjoyed reading The Pragmatic Programmer. My team read it for an at work book club. I think the book has solid advice and fundamental principles for good software engineering. It has a good mix of content relevant to the different parts of being a good software engineer around both code and processes.
Eduardo Gimenez –
Book came as expected
Book came as expected
H.Farhat –
Great book to read not just for programmers.Worth reading more than once. This book will definitely help you in building better software and think responsibly.
Madhan Ganesh –
I am an experienced developer associated with code for last 20 years. Reading a book like this is a deja-vu in many sense. It is tantalising experience as the pages turn in this book. The most I liked about this book is the simplicity and usage of language. It communicates in easy to follow yet coveys what matters most to me in my professional life. Also the way the each topic is capsuled makes the reading experience smooth. There is lot to reflect by reading this book. It does not matter what is your experience, this book will lay foundational aspects of engineering within you.
Valeria Martinez -Albarran –
Llegó bien empaquetado, buena calidad
Amazon Customer –
This book comes recommended by some of the best programmers in the industry. I was drawn to it via a mention by John Carmack and it doesn’t disappoint. Shockingly applicable advice for a book with origins decades ago. Will likely change the way you approach programming (for the better!).
Gang Yi Khor –
Very useful and informative, covers various aspects, from requirement gathering, estimations, coding best practices, tests, refactoring and delivery.