Becoming a Better Programmer

Chapter 1Care about the Code
you.write(code);
Chapter 2Keeping Up Appearances
Presentation Is Powerful
It’s About Communication
Layout
Names
Making Yourself Presentable
Conclusion
Chapter 3Write Less Code!
Why Should We Care?
Flappy Logic
Duplication
Dead Code
Comments
Verbosity
Bad Design
Whitespace
So What Do We Do?
Conclusion
Chapter 4Improve Code by Removing It
Code Indulgence
It’s Not Bad, It’s Inevitable
So What?
Waking the Dead
Surgical Extraction
Conclusion
Chapter 5The Ghost of a Codebase Past
Presentation
The State of the Art
Idioms
Design Decisions
Bugs
Conclusion
Chapter 6Navigating a Route
A Little Help from My Friends
Look for Clues
Learn by Doing
Conclusion
Chapter 7Wallowing in Filth
Smell the Signs
Wading into the Cesspit
The Survey Says…
Working in the Sandpit
Cleaning Up Messes
Making Adjustments
Bad Code? Bad Programmers?
Chapter 8Don’t Ignore That Error!
The Mechanism
The Madness
The Mitigation
Conclusion
Chapter 9Expect the Unexpected
Errors
Threading
Shutdown
The Moral of the Story
Chapter 10Bug Hunting
An Economic Concern
An Ounce of Prevention
Bug Hunting
Non-Reproducible Bugs
Conclusion
Chapter 11Testing Times
Why Test?
Types of Tests
When to Write Tests
When to Run Tests
What to Test
Good Tests
What Does a Test Look Like?
The Structure of Tests
No Code Is an Island
Conclusion
Chapter 12Coping with Complexity
Blobs
Case Study: Reducing Blob Complexity
Lines
And Finally: People
Conclusion
Chapter 13A Tale of Two Systems
The Messy Metropolis
Design Town
So What?
Practice Makes Perfect
Chapter 14Software Development Is…
This Software (Food)stuff
Software Development Is…an Art
Software Development Is…a Science
Software Development Is…a Sport
Software Development Is…Child’s Play
Software Development Is…a Chore
Metaphor Overload
Chapter 15Playing by the Rules
We Need More Rules!
Set the Rules
Chapter 16Keep It Simple
Simple Designs
Simple Lines of Code
Keeping It Simple, Not Stupid
Assumptions Can Reduce Simplicity
Avoid Premature Optimisation
Sufficiently Simple
A Simple Conclusion
Chapter 17Use Your Brain
Don’t Be Stupid
Avoid Mindlessness
You Are Allowed to Think!
Chapter 18Nothing Is Set in Stone
Fearless Change
Change Your Attitude
Make the Change
Plus ça Change
Chapter 19A Case for Code Reuse
Reuse Case 1: The Copy-Pasta
Reuse Case 2: Design for Reuse
Reuse Case 3: Promote and Refactor
Reuse Case 4: Buy In, or Reinvent the Wheel
Chapter 20Effective Version Control
Use It or Lose It
Pick One, Any One
Storing the Right Things
Use Version Control Well
Branches: Seeing the Wood for the Trees
The Home for Your Code
Conclusion
Chapter 21Getting One Past the Goalpost
Software Development: Shovelling Manure
A False Dichotomy
Fix the Team to Fix the Code
Releasing a Build to QA
On Getting a Fault Report
Our Differences Make Us Stronger
Pieces of the Puzzle
Chapter 22The Curious Case of the Frozen Code
Hunting the Code Freeze
A New World Order
Forms of Freeze
Branches Make It Work
But It’s Not Really Frozen!
Length of the Freeze
Feel the Freeze
The End Draws Near
Antifreeze
Conclusion
Chapter 23Please Release Me
Part of the Process
A Cog in the Machine
Release Early and Often
And There’s More…
Getting Personal
Chapter 24Live to Love to Learn
What to Learn?
Learning to Learn
Learning Models
Teach to Learn
Act to Learn
What Have We Learnt?
Chapter 25Test-Driven Developers
Driving the Point Home
Success Breeds Complacency
Testing Times
Test-Driven Developers
Conclusion
Chapter 26Relish the Challenge
It’s the Motivation
What’s the Challenge?
Don’t Do It!
Get Challenged
Conclusion
Chapter 27Avoid Stagnation
Your Skills Are Your Investment
An Exercise for the Reader
Job Security
Chapter 28The Ethical Programmer
Attitude to Code
Legal Issues
Attitude to People
The Hippocodic Oath
Conclusion
Chapter 29A Love for Languages
Love All Languages
Love Your Language
Cultivating Your Language Relationship
A Perfect Metaphor?
Conclusion
Chapter 30Posturing Programmers
Basic Computer Posture
Eye Strain
Conclusion
Getting Things Done
Chapter 31Smarter, Not Harder
Pick Your Battles
Battle Tactics
Conclusion
Chapter 32It’s Done When It’s Done
Are We There Yet?
Developing Backwards: Decomposition
Define “Done”
Just Do It
Chapter 33This Time I’ve Got It…
Desert Island Development
Stood at the Bottom of the Mountain
The People Pursuit
Chapter 34People Power
What to Do
Know Your Experts
20/20 Hindsight
Chapter 35It’s the Thought That Accounts
Stretching the Metaphor
Accountability Counts
Code++
Making It Work
Setting the Standard
The Next Steps
Conclusion
Chapter 36Speak Up!
Code Is Communication
Interpersonal Communication
Talking of Teams
Talking to the Customer
Other Communication
Conclusion
Chapter 37Many-festos
A Generic Manifesto for Software Development
OK, OK
The Manyfestos
But, Really?
The Punchline
Chapter 38An Ode to Code
Coding Is a People Problem