Although at this point in my life I’m not actively programming — last week I’ve bought myself a copy of The Passionate Programmer. Why? Because every single day I feel and believe I am a passionate programmer. And this book makes me desire to program even more. Below I’ve written a summary of what this book is about.
First of all this is not a technical book. It doesn’t tell you Git is better than Mercurial or Subversion. Nor if you should program in Haskell, Python or even Clojure. It does however tell you much more important stuff. Which hopefully will make you a better and happier programmer for the rest of your life. It stimulates you to: actively plan and steer your career software development.
The author of The Passionate Programmer goes by the name of Chad Fowler, who appears to be a active figure in the Ruby-scene. But more interestingly Mr. Fowler is a former professional saxophone player. Which perhaps has helped him in making such astute observations on how to make a career in software development. I most say who I am to judge — I can’t really say I have made that much of a career in software development just yet. But this book will surely increase my chances. So what is inside the book?
I was reading this post by Josh Bernoff (author of Groundswell – winning in a world transformed by social technologies) on the latest book by Seth Godin called Linchpin. Although the post only scratches the surface of the book it entices me to buy the book one of these days. Here are some of the things Bernoff mentions about Linchpin:
Basically, this means that if you do your job as you’re told, then you’re easy to replace. Seth wants you to “become indispensable” instead.
The term linchpin was a mystery to me so I consulted Merriam-Webster which gave this definition:
linchpin – one that serves to hold together parts or elements that exist or function as a unit
Most people working in the field of branding already know these books — but for those who don’t I highly recommend them. I’ve embedded both books as presentations below. The book are written by Marty Neumeier and explain what branding is in great clear visual way (i.e. very little to read).
Not a snack, nor a simple meal but a rather extraordinary dinner I would call this next video. Notice the tasteful choice of English words and the sheer richness of culture. Enjoy this video of the scholar George Steiner (literary critic).
