The Programmer's Survival Guide: Career Strategies for Computer Professionals (Yourden Press Computing Series) [Paperback]

Janet Ruhl (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall Ptr (September 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0137303750
• ISBN-13: 978-0137303755
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,629,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Computers & Technology > Business & Culture > Careers

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended reading for the programmer wannabe, December 14, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The Programmer's Survival Guide: Career Strategies for Computer Professionals (Yourden Press Computing Series) (Paperback)

I wish I'd had this book 11+ years ago when I was first considering becoming a programmer. I don't know if my life would be any different, but at least maybe I'd understand better what was going on. Ruhl does a good job of describing the nitty-gritty realities of life as a programmer. why management doesn't like technical people, why a maintenance job might be a better choice than a job doing new development, why the environment and software you work in is so important... Even after more than 8 years, I think a lot of what she says is still valid and worth paying attention to. However, the book was published in 1988, and by computer standards that's pretty old. Ruhl speaks as a mainframe business programmer. The computer milleau has changed a lot since then. She says nothing about the Internet, and very little about PC"s and networking or about scientific/engineering computer work. I'd really like to see an updated rewrite of this book. Nonetheless, I think it's must reading for anyone considering a programming career, at least until something better comes along.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Once great, now very dated, February 13, 2007

By 

Adam Connor (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Programmer's Survival Guide: Career Strategies for Computer Professionals (Yourden Press Computing Series) (Paperback)

This was a great, great book, but it is sadly out of date. Worth reading for the history, maybe, but it's not a career guide for today.