Author: Pete Goodliffe

Format: Paperback: 624 pages

Publisher: No Starch Press (December 15, 2006)

ISBN-10: 1593271190

ISBN-13: 978-1593271190



Review by James Pyles

January 8, 2007



There are plenty of books on the market that can teach you how to program in various languages such as JavaScript, Python, Perl, C++, ad infinitum. There are relatively few books available that can teach you how to program well, regardless of the programming language. Code Craft: The Practice of Writing Excellent Code touts itself as a book that can turn a good programmer into a great programmer. Let's see how closely the map matches the territory.



First off, some programming experience is a must for the target audience. This book will not teach you how to program or how to program in a particular language (ok, ok, code examples tend towards C, C++, and Java, but don't let that limit you). That's not what it's written to do. This book takes poor or average programmers (they write good code that works but is a bloated, organizational disaster otherwise) and turns them into great programmers. I suppose it's like taking "a few good men...uh, people" and turning them into Marines. That said, there is also a provision for using this text to mentor a programming newbie. Mentoring suggests however, that the newbie is under the tutelage of an experienced coder so the student will not be flying solo. This would have the benefit of teaching the student how to program correctly and how to program in one shot.



Other titles for Code Craft might have been Guide to Learning to Think as a Programmer or Programmer Best Practices. If this were a book about how to shoot a firearm, it would be designed to turn someone "shooting from the hip" into an expert sharpshooter. You already know how to shoot...now let's learn how to shoot well. Goodliffe uses a casual writing style, humor, and "monkey cartoons" (no lie) woven together to create a highly organized and useful tome that teaches "the craft of coding". It's not exactly "Zen and the Art of Programming Maintenance", but it's not far off either.



There are two views built into the book: micro and macro. It's like looking at the terrain from different perspectives using different maps. A single viewpoint misses (sometimes vital) details. Multiple views provides additional scope and understanding. The end of each chapter includes references to related chapters, exam questions and sometimes 10,000 Monkeys (or thereabouts) to illuminate the chapter content. Answers to the exams can be found at the end of the book. Not all books include a bibliography but Code Craft does, so you can check the author's references and access more resources. Updates, errata, etc... can be found at http://www.nostarch.com/codecraft.htm. Nothing spectacular on that page at the moment but Code Craft isn't a month old, yet.



Pete Goodliffe's Code Craft: The Practice of Writing Excellent Code is a "must read" for any programmer who wants to be a better programmer. If you don't care about your skills and the "art" of coding, forget this text and get back to work. If you take your programming seriously and are always searching for ways to improve your skills, rob your piggy bank and buy this book. By the way, the map matches the topography just fine.





 

Title: Code Craft: The Practice of Writing Excellent Code
Category: Open Source
Sub-Category: Open Source Books
Author: James Pyles
Related Link: Find this book at No Starch
Added: January 8th 2007
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