Timeless Laws of Software Development

Simply explains the critical parts of software development that are too often overlooked by new developers and managers.

I like the style of this book. It doesn't mince words, it's pretty short, the font is big and most of what it says is important and useful. On the flip side most of what it says you will have learned once you've been developing for a long time. So I think it's best for beginner to intermediate engineers. I do like the fact that at points it argues some opinions that are not trendy but in most cases, well-founded. For example, it does make a good case for thoughtful design and offers cautions regarding TDD.

This book has a lot of good programming tips. I found the first half of the book a little boring, but the second half was dense with a lot of good programming tips, such as immutability, information hiding, and small methods. The author has a non-hyperbolic, non-dogmatic, moderate way of writing and expressing his opinions. He does a valuable job of summarizing useful points that I have read elsewhere. Good job!Some other good books to read on the same subject:Clean Code (and other books written by Bob Martin),Effective Java (especially chapters on immutability and inheritance),The ThoughtWorks Anthology (chapter on Object Calisthenics)The Art of Readable Code,Clean Code in a Nutshell,Hello Startup (chapter on Clean Code)The Pragmatic Programmer (especially parts about "Don't Repeat Yourself" and "Broken Windows")

Never have I gained so much knowledge and insight from so few pages of text. This book is like lightning for the software mind.

Reminds me of a book called "Tips" I read back in my theatre acting days. Contains small concise sections which summarize best practices and then justifies them with real world examples. If you've been a software developer for any length of time, and have cared about your craft, you likely already "know" all the suggestions in this book. HOWEVER, I found it a great little refresher on things that are easy to forget if you've gotten bogged down in the day to day of developing a software project.

Timeless Laws of Software Development is honest, informative and a benefit to read. I learned that the author, Jerry Fitzpatrick, had worked with Robert Martin (well known in the software arena) so I decided to give this book a look. The author shares a lot of real personal stories, some funny and some frustrating, that I think anyone in software development could relate with and learn from.

Jerry Fitzpatrick identifies general developer laws through real-world examples that can be used in writing or editing code for creating high quality software. Although most examples in the book are in C/C#, the laws outlined are truly general and applicable to any language. That makes this book a longevity item on my bookshelf as I will be thinking of these the next time I write or review a line of code.

I don't usually write reviews but I highly recommend Timeless Laws of Software Development for any project manager or team lead. Clear, concise, easy to follow. Wish I had read this book before our company's last project. If you're serious about getting it right, saving time and money take the time to soak in this book. I plan to gift copies to my team members for Christmas. (maybe sooner)