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Adam Kahtava's Profile
Customer Reviews: 25
New Reviewer Rank: 32,304
Classic Reviewer Rank: 50,335
Helpful Votes:
88
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Reviews Written by
Adam Kahtava
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Good, interesting. Would make an excellent addition to College / University programs, October 25, 2009
Andy Hunt's Pragmatic Thinking and Learning is fun and interesting, but the topics within often leaned on the obvious. The central theme throughout Pragmatic Thinking and Learning revolves around harnessing brain modes (linear mode and rich mode), self improvement, and the Dreyfus Model - a model, where our skills are ranked by five stages (Novice, Advanced Beginner, Competent, Proficient, and Expert). Throughout the text Andy works through the stages of the Dreyfus Model within the context of the software realm. He offers advice on how we can progress as developers, and discusses learning techniques that have worked for him. Andy offers many interesting tips, stories, and draws in external research. For example: Did you know, that research suggests that: "if you constantly interrupt your task to check email or respond to an IM text message, your effective IQ drops by ten points" or "the leading predictor of a tendency for road rage was the amount of personalization on a vehicle"?
However, I felt that many of the concepts discussed have become common knowledge (part of popular developer culture) and were somewhat obvious. To borrow from the Dreyfus Model; this book is probably best suited for Novices or Advanced Beginner. It's also fair to mention that I thought Andy's other book The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master suffered this same problem, but also keep in mind that "the obvious ... is never seen until someone expresses it simply" (Kahlil Gibran). In the end, I do recommend this book. It's a fun read, excellent for those who are new to the software industry. It would make a great addition to College / University programs.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Entertaining, witty, wasy to read, insightful. An excellent book, October 25, 2009
The title (Designing with Web Standards) of Jeffrey Zeldman's book says it all - this book promoted accessible, usable, search engine friendly web design and development through the use of XHTML and CSS while debunking the myths surrounding web standards. Zeldman is a well recognized name among web developers and designers - he's the the founder of A List Apart, and co-founder of The Web Standards Project (WaSP). His writing is entertaining, witty, easy to read, and insightful - it's very much like the content we're used to reading at A List Apart. It's also fair to mention that this book has been edited by industy experts and influencial writers like Eric Myer. Any developer that works with the web should read this book along with JavaScript: The Good Parts by Douglas Crockford.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Pragmatic, useful, approachable, June 14, 2009
Another excellent, approachable, useful book on the topic of Domain Driven Design. This book also discussed some exciting side topics that are difficult to find within the context of .NET. Topics such as: Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP), Dependency Injection, Inversion of Control (IOC), Mocking, and TDD. I found Nilsson's book crucial for filling in many of the implementation gaps that Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software by Eric Evans skims over. I recommend reading this book alongside Evans seminal work on the topic of Domain Driven Design.
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An excellent reference, another must read for developers, June 14, 2009
Through this book Evan's shares his extensive development and consulting experience as he outlines his approach to Domain Driven Design (DDD) - DDD being the development approach that Evan's has had the most success with. Evan's writing style is easy to read as he maintains a comfortable conversational tone while pragmatically guiding us through the many patterns and concepts that encompass Domain Driven Design. However; be warned the concepts that lie within are occasionally dense, abstract, but ultimately enlightening as Evan's forces us to look at development from a new perspective.
It's fair to mention that this book has been charged as being just another patterns book, and while I sympathize with those reviewers - some concepts do come across as being overly abstract without clear implementations (code) to reference. I found this book to be an insightful window into the mind of an experienced developer, and not just another patterns book. If you do find yourself grasping for more concrete implementations then you'll want to read Jimmy Nilsson's Applying Domain-Driven Design and Patterns: With Examples in C# and .NET book too - Nilsson's book provides many code examples while directly referencing Evan's text.
As a developer or an emerging architect you won't want to overlook this book. From my experience the concepts and patterns surrounding Domain Driven Design frequently crop up in Service Orientation, MVC/MVP Web Applications, Object Orientation, Test Driven Development, Model Driven Development, and other modern best practices. I highly recommend this book, it's a great reference to have alongside Steve McConnell's Code Complete, Robert Glass's Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering, and the Martin Fowler blessed books too.
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Microserfs
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by Douglas Coupland
Edition: Paperback |
| Availability: Currently unavailable |
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Strickingly accurate, entertaining, and funny, May 3, 2009
In Microserfs, Douglas Coupland presents an eerily accurate snapshot of modern software development culture. A culture where quirkiness, nerf gun attacks, release parties, access to unlimited amounts of sugar laden beverages, all nighters, hard work, and spontaneous fun are all the norm.
This is a great book for those seeking an entertaining read, or those who are interested in what the life of a developer entails. As a software developer myself, this book is a great reminder that developing software is really about the people, team work, fun, and not usually the technology.
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Having a mental block? Pick up an Arden, May 3, 2009
Every creative should own a couple Ardens. They're fun, inspirational, and interesting. Great for bus rides or breaking a mental block.
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Every creative should own a couple Ardens. Short, inspirational, and fits in your pocket too, May 3, 2009
Arden's books are small enough to stuff in a pocket and packed full of inspirational and insightful ideas / quotes / and images. These books are truly creative and well worth their cost.
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Inspirational, May 3, 2009
The Age of Heretics, by Art Kleiner challenges the very fibers that compose modern management and its favour for bureaucracy. We have much to learn from the history, and this book uncovers some inspirational tales and lessons from past successes and failures in management. Read this book and it will change your perspective forever, this has been the most inspirational book I've read this year.
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Enlightening, intreguing, fascinating. Excellently written, May 3, 2009
In the Code Book, Simon Singh takes us on a fascinating journey through cryptography from ancient Egypt to to the modern. He touches on many historical figures and their contributions to modern day cryptography. Personalities such as: Charles Babbage (the grandfather of computing), Alan Turing (creator of the Turing Machine, the father of modern computer science), Ronald Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leon Adleman (the men behind RSA encryption), and Phil Zimmermann.
This book was enlightening as it put the cryptography mechanisms we employ today into a historical context while describing their complex inner workings and presenting the rich history that lies behind all innovation. Like other reviewers, I was also disappointed that the book came to a close so soon. I'm looking forward to reading Singh's other books.
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0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Approachable for all readers, essential for understanding our flat world. This book should be on everyones "must read" list, November 16, 2008
Friedman's prose weaves his vast depth of experiences, his social / environmental concerns, and philosophy together seamlessly. Globalization effects everyone and everything in our present world, you owe it to yourself to read this fantastic book.
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