5 ms·
This is right, however we also need to acknowledge the prevalence of books which put forth some good ideas, but which perhaps can be summarized in a page or so.
by sriku 5y ago
This is right, however we also need to acknowledge the prevalence of books which put forth some good ideas, but which perhaps can be summarized in a page or so. Instead they choose to labor on and on around the same point(s) without adding much.
A book that definitely wasn't in the category I described above (for me) was John Ousterhout's Philosophy of Software Design - https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Software-Design-John-Ousterhout-ebook/dp/B07N1XLQ7D https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Software-Design-John-Ouste... . I haven't run into software design/tech books like that very often.
- janto 5y agoFrom the reviews it sounds mainly from the OO/Java and heavy design up front paradigm and not very Agile / test driven. Is that fair? I'd really like a philosophically minded book that integrates these relatively newer approaches.
- benji-york 5y agoI consider myself very agile/test-driven-leaning and I got a lot out of the book. It provided nice restatements of many things I've vaguely thought over the years and some nice new ideas.
- sriku 5y agoThe book came out of Ousterhout's course on software design where he reviews student code as they work on a significant problem - building a text editor. There is very little (if any) material out there of this nature that goes much beyond personal opinion (usually under the guise of experience) and sloganeering. This one though, is a hearty dive into the delectable details of design.
- baranoff 5y agoSecond that book! I have read dozens of technical books, but none come close in practical wisdom. If you have been in the industry and worked on large projects you will find it very relevant. I hope it is also as relevant and easy to understand for people who do not have many years of experience already.