The Passionate Programmer: Creating a Remarkable Career in Software Development / Edition 1

by Chad Fowler, David Heinemeier Hansson

Overview

Success in today's IT environment requires you to view your career as a business endeavor. In this book, you'll learn how to become an entrepreneur, driving your career in the direction of your choosing. You'll learn how to build your software development career step by step, following the same path that you would follow if you were building, marketing, and selling a product. After all, your skills themselves are a product.

The choices you make about which technologies to focus on and which business domains to master have at least as much impact on your success as your technical knowledge itself—don't let those choices be accidental. We'll walk through all aspects of the decision-making process, so you can ensure that you're investing your time and energy in the right areas.

You'll develop a structured plan for keeping your mind engaged and your skills fresh. You'll learn how to assess your skills in terms of where they fit on the value chain, driving you away from commodity skills and toward those that are in high demand. Through a mix of high-level, thought-provoking essays and tactical "Act on It" sections, you will come away with concrete plans you can put into action immediately. You'll also get a chance to read the perspectives of several highly successful members of our industry from a variety of career paths.

As with any product or service, if nobody knows what you're selling, nobody will buy. We'll walk through the often-neglected world of marketing, and you'll create a plan to market yourself both inside your company and to the industry in general.

Above all, you'll see how you can set the direction of your career, leading to a more fulfilling and remarkable professional life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781934356340
Publisher:	Pragmatic Programmers, LLC, The
Publication date:	07/01/2009
Series:	Pragmatic Life Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	232
Sales rank:	272,850
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Chad Fowler is co-director of Ruby Central, Inc., and remains an active, driving force in the Ruby community.

Table of Contents

Foreword xiii

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction xvii

Part I Choosing Your Market 1

1 Lead or Bleed? 5

2 Supply and Demand 9

3 Coding Don't Cut It Anymore 13

4 Be the Worst 16

5 Invest in Your Intelligence 19

6 Don't Listen to Your Parents 23

7 Be a Generalist 28

8 Be a Specialist 33

9 Don't Put All Your Eggs in Someone Else's Basket 36

10 Love It or Leave It 38

Part II Investing in Your Product 45

11 Learn to Fish 49

12 Learn How Businesses Really Work 52

13 Find a Mentor 54

14 Be a Mentor 58

15 Practice, Practice, Practice 60

16 The Way That You Do It 65

17 On the Shoulders of Giants 68

18 Automate Yourself into a Job 71

Part III Executing 79

19 Right Now 82

20 Mind Reader 84

21 Daily Hit 87

22 Remember Who You Work For 89

23 Be Where You're At 92

24 How Good a Job Can I Do Today? 95

25 How Much Are You Worth? 98

26 A Pebble in a Bucket of Water 101

27 Learn to Love Maintenance 104

28 Eight-Hour Burn 108

29 Learn How to Fail 111

30 Say "No" 114

31 Don't Panic 117

32 Say It, Do It, Show It 121

Part IV Marketing... Not Just for Suits 129

33 Perceptions, Perschmeptions 133

34 Adventure Tour Guide 136

35 Me Rite Reel Nice 139

36 Being Present 141

37 Suit Speak 145

38 Change the World 147

39 Let Your Voice Be Heard 149

40 Build Your Brand 153

41 Release Your Code 155

42 Remarkability 158

43 Making the Hang 161

Part V Maintaining Your Edge 167

44 Already Obsolete 170

45 You've Already Lost Your Job 173

46 Path with No Destination 175

47 Make Yourself a Map 177

48 Watch the Market 179

49 That Fat Man in the Mirror 181

50 The South Indian Monkey Trap 184

51 Avoid Waterfall CareerPlanning 188

52 Better Than Yesterday 191

53 Go Independent 195

Have Fun 199

Resources 201

Editorial Reviews

"Chad Fowler presents a set of no-nonsense heuristics, disciplines, and attitudes that will teach you how to respect and love your profession—and be great at it."

- Bob Martin, President Object Mentor, Inc.

"This book is solid GOLD! There may be hope for our “unprofession” after all! More power to you!"

- Bruce Langenbach, Independent Agile Software Entrepreneur and Passionate IT Consultant

From the Publisher