Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt are internationally
recognized as leading voices in the software development community.
They consult and speak around the world. Together, they founded the
Pragmatic Bookshelf, publishing award-winning, leading-edge books
for software developers. They were two of the authors of the Agile
Manifesto.
Dave currently teaches college, turns wood, and plays with new
technology and paradigms. Andy writes science fiction, is an active
musician, and loves to tinker with technology. But, most of all,
they’re both driven to keep learning.
"To participate in the next generation of professional product
delivery you have to be pragmatic but disciplined. Otherwise, you
are fated to be ungrounded dreamers whose products endanger people
and whose ideas never become successfully integrated into the
world. Andy and Dave described a pragmatic but disciplined approach
which is a key step towards professionalism."
–Ken Schwaber, co-creator of Scrum and founder of Scrum.org, agile
manifesto signatory, and author of Software in 30 Days.
"Picking adjectives is hard work. In The Pragmatic Programmer,
Dave and Andy set the tone for their work–thoughtful, expert,
aspirational, and full of care for themselves and those they touch
through their programs. From its publication, this was the book to
read if you wanted to work to improve."
–Kent Beck, Gusto, author of Extreme Programming Explained:
Embrace Change, Test-Driven Development: By
Example, and The Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns
"Some say that with The Pragmatic Programmer, Andy and Dave
captured lightning in a bottle; that it’s unlikely anyone will soon
write a book that can move an entire industry as it did. Sometimes,
though, lightning does strike twice, and this book is proof. The
updated content ensures that it will stay at the top of “best books
in software development” lists for another 20 years, right where it
belongs."
—VM (Vicky) Brasseur, Director of Open Source Strategy, Juniper
Networks
"If you want your software to be easy to modernize and maintain,
keep a copy of The Pragmatic Programmer close. It’s filled with
practical advice, both technical and professional, that will serve
you and your projects well for years to come."
—Andrea Goulet, CEO, Corgibytes; Founder, LegacyCode.Rocks
" The Pragmatic Programmer is the one book I can point to that
completely dislodged the existing trajectory of my career in
software and pointed me in the direction of success. Reading it
opened my mind to the possibilities of being a craftsman, not just
a cog in a big machine. One of the most significant books in my
life."
—Obie Fernandez, Author, The Rails Way
"First-time readers can look forward to an enthralling induction
into the modern world of software practice, a world that the first
edition played a major role in shaping. Readers of the first
edition will rediscover here the insights and practical wisdom that
made the book so significant in the first place, expertly curated
and updated, along with much that’s new."
—David A. Black, Author, The Well-Grounded Rubyist
"I have an old paper copy of the original Pragmatic Programmer on
my bookshelf. It has been read and re-read and a long time ago it
changed everything about how I approached my job as a programmer.
In the new edition everything and nothing has changed: I now read
it on my iPad and the code examples use modern programming
languages—but the underlying concepts, ideas, and attitudes are
timeless and universally applicable. Twenty years later, the book
is as relevant as ever. It makes me happy to know that current and
future developers will have the same opportunity to learn from Andy
and Dave’s profound insights as I did back in the day."
—Sandy Mamoli, Agile coach; Author of How Self-Selection Lets
People Excel
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