Every so often, a book comes along that codifies best practice in a way that manages to illuminate the path from where things are right now, to a better place that we'd rather be -- things like Fowler et al. Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code (Object Technology Series) or the Gang of Four Design patterns : elements of reusable object-oriented software. This is one of those books. And if much of the material is the sort that seems obvious in hindsight -- well, that is the mark of a well written book, to make the concepts that clear.
Taking a series of real world examples -- open source projects with significant user bases, including FitNesse and JUnit -- a series of worked examples take us from good, or at least adequate, code, to a form which is better factored, and easier to read, with the steps along the way clearly marked. Yes, even some of Kent Beck's code is put under the microscope, and carefully polished that extra stage or two more.
The reader is cautioned that, without working long hours to follow these examples, this will be just another of those feel-good books. I don't quite agree -- spending just a little time to follow the transformations, and then reflecting on one's own outpourings should be enough to make this a feel-bad book. All the sins from obscurely named variables to sprawling functions that gaily mix abstraction levels, we've all done them (especially programming in FORTRAN on minicomputers with slow stacks and a rule of thumb that 1 call ~ 40 loc in terms of performance).
The maxim to take from the book is based on Baden-Powell's "Try and leave this world a little better than you found it", and owes to the same school of thought as "whenever you are in the garden, pull at least one weed". The meat of the book is in distinguishing what are the weeds from the intended crop.
So read it, understand the examples, and then refer to it often -- like the other titles mentioned, it is a reference work, and should join them as among the most thumbed on your bookshelf.
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Functions should either do something or answer something, but not both.Highlighted by 3,369 Kindle readers- The proper use of comments is to compensate for our failure to express ourself in code.Highlighted by 3,010 Kindle readers
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From the Publisher
A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship
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Practical Advice for the Professional Programmer
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A Craftsman's Guide to Software Structure and Design
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Professionalism, Pragmatism, Pride
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Agile values and principles for a whole new generation of developers
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| Price | £39.35 | £33.23 | £29.97 | £26.59 | £29.41 |
| Core Concept | Best agile practices of cleaning code “on the fly” that will instill within you the values of a software craftsman and make you a better programmer—but only if you work at it. | Robert C. Martin introduces the disciplines, techniques, tools, and practices of true software craftsmanship. This book is packed with practical advice–about everything from estimating and coding to refactoring and testing. | Uncle Bob presents the universal rules of software architecture that will help you dramatically improve developer productivity throughout the life of any software system. | Sandro Mancuso helped found the world’s largest organization of software craftsmen; now, he shares what he’s learned through inspiring examples and pragmatic advice you can use in your company, your projects, and your career. | As with his other books, Martin's Clean Agile: Back to Basics doesn't merely present multiple choices and options, and say "use your best judgment"; it tells you what choices to make and why those choices are critical to your success. |
| Endoresement | "It is the best pragmatic application of Lean principles to software I have ever seen in print." —James O. Coplien, Founder of the Pasteur Organizational Patterns project | “Read, learn, and live the lessons in this book and you can accurately call yourself a software professional.” —George Bullock Senior Program Manager Microsoft Corp. | "A good architecture comes from understanding it more as a journey than as a destination, more as an ongoing process of enquiry than as a frozen artifact." -- Kevlin Henney | "If you are the type of programmer, team lead, or manager who craves to be able to go home after a long day of work, look in the mirror, and say, 'Damn, I did a good job today!' then this is the book for you." -- Robert C. Martin | “In the journey to all things Agile, Uncle Bob has been there, done that, and has the both the t-shirt and the scars to show for it. This delightful book is part history, part personal stories, and all wisdom." |
Absolutely worth it
The book was clean and brand new. Delivered faster than I expected. Awesome read. Definitely recommend
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- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 May 2009
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 November 2023
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Top reviews from other countries
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Arnoldo CervantesReviewed in Mexico on 4 July 2020
Excelente libro sin importar tu nivel de experiencia
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Alexander E.Reviewed in Germany on 13 April 2025
Hat mir persönlich sehr gut gefallen
- TonesReviewed in Australia on 30 June 2023
Great for beginners dealing with legacy code
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Cliente AmazonReviewed in Italy on 28 January 2025
For software artisans with love ❤️
