Apprenticeship Patterns: Guidance for the Aspiring Software Craftsman (Paperback)

~ (Author), (Author), Hoover Dave (Author), Oshineye Adewale (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Are you doing all you can to further your career as a software developer? With today's rapidly changing and ever-expanding technologies, being successful requires more than technical expertise. To grow professionally, you also need soft skills and effective learning techniques. Honing those skills is what this book is all about. Authors Dave Hoover and Adewale Oshineye have cataloged dozens of behavior patterns to help you perfect essential aspects of your craft.

Compiled from years of research, many interviews, and feedback from O'Reilly's online forum, these patterns address difficult situations that programmers, administrators, and DBAs face every day. And it's not just about financial success. Apprenticeship Patterns also approaches software development as a means to personal fulfillment. Discover how this book can help you make the best of both your life and your career.

Solutions to some common obstacles that this book explores in-depth include:

• Burned out at work? "Nurture Your Passion" by finding a pet project to rediscover the joy of problem solving.
• Feeling overwhelmed by new information? Re-explore familiar territory by building something you've built before, then use "Retreat into Competence" to move forward again.
• Stuck in your learning? Seek a team of experienced and talented developers with whom you can "Be the Worst" for a while.

"Brilliant stuff! Reading this book was like being in a time machine that pulled me back to those key learning moments in my career as a professional software developer and, instead of having to learn best practices the hard way, I had a guru sitting on my shoulder guiding me every step towards master craftsmanship. I'll certainly be recommending this book to clients. I wish I had this book 14 years ago!" -Russ Miles, CEO, OpenCredo

About the Author

Dave Hoover is a Lead Consultant with Obtiva, specializing in Agile Development. He is a hands-on coach, spending the majority of his time pair programming with client developers, crafting Ruby and Java applications via test-driven development. Dave was trained in psychology and spent 4 years practicing child and family therapy. He made a career change and landed a job at a web startup where he had the opportunity to teach himself Perl under the guidance of some experienced developers. Since those first days in 2000, he has been consistently introspective and reflective about his journey toward mastery through journaling and blogging. He has written articles for XML.com and Stickyminds.com, developed OSS for the Selenium and Watir projects, and speaks at conferences like XP2005, RailsConf 2006, and Agile 2007. What qualifies him to write this book is that the patterns were initially extracted from his own journey and that he has the expertise to introspect on his own experience and explore the experiences of others through interviews. Prior to joining Obtiva, Dave was with Thoughtworks.

Adewale Oshineye is an engineer at a little-known search engine named Google. This is a consequence of many deeply geeky evenings spent programming 8-bit computers when he was a child. When he grew up Adewale somehow fell into IT consultancy. His career at consultancies such as Thoughtworks gave him the chance to work on projects ranging from point-of-sale systems for electrical retailers to trading systems for investment banks. It also gave him a chance to learn from some of the most interesting software craftspeople in Western Europe. In those rare moments when he's not in front of a computer he can be found behind a digital camera somewhere in London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 166 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media (October 21, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596518382
• ISBN-13: 978-0596518387
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #337,838 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An Ok read, but not as good as some other books with the same theme, October 27, 2009

By	developer dude - See all my reviews

This book is similiar in vein to something like "My Job Went to India: 52 Ways to Save Your Job" but the India book is a lot better. The India book - ok the title is a bit tacky, but I'm sure the author didn't mean any offense, gives you more detail about how to progress in the IT field as a techie. Another comparable book is "The Productive Programmer", which is also a bit better. I'm not really sure where "Apprenticeship Patterns" really fits in, as it seems to be aimed a a book for newbies, but that's already covered by existing titles like "the Pragmatic Programmer" (this is a classic get this). But having said that there is still some good advice in it, but it's probably not the first book I'd buy to get advice for how to progress as a developer; the other 3 books mentioned in this review would be the ones I'd get.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for software engineers, October 31, 2009

By	Yoshiki Shibata (Yokohama, Japan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is definitely one of best books I have ever read this year. On my blog, I strongly recommended it to readers of my blog. In 2002, I read "Software Craftsmanship" which made me decide to continue working as a software engineer, and this year "Apprenticeship Patterns" and "Passionate Programmer" gave me new insights on being a software engineer.

Unfortunately it is written in English. I hope the Japanese edition (translated edition) will be available soon for software engineers in Japan.

Thank you, Dave and Adewale for writing a great book.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read not only for software developers, October 22, 2009

By	Michael Hunger "jexp" (Dresden, Sachsen) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As with every pattern book, SCAP captures the things that we all know are important and working in expanding one's skill and professionality. It draws a wide map of applicable patterns, showing the way to a successful technical career without being cast off to management.

The books authors have harvested the patterns in countless interviews, conversations and discussions with experienced and not so experienced software developers. So the patterns where found, refined and expanded.

What you've got in your hand is a pattern language for becoming a software professional not necessarily an "engineer" but a craftsman. Someone who not only puts technical skill but also people skills, reputation of successfully handled projects (not only development but the whole life of a software) in his pockets.

As I reviewed the book, I may add that it evolved from a loose collection of pattern to a well written intricate network (map) of profound experience.

If you are curious about the content of the book, you can always visit the O'Reilly Wiki for SCAP or Safari and have a first look at the patterns there. If you like the style then buy it.

If you have something to say or discuss, please do so in the Wiki or here.

Michael, aspiring software craftsman