The Pragmatic Craftsman
:: Simplicity from complexity : by Stanley Kubasek ::
The Pragmatic Craftsman
:: Simplicity from complexity : by Stanley Kubasek ::
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A critical ability in OO development is to skillfully assign responsibilities to software objects
–Craig Larman
author, Applying UML and Patterns |
Can’t agree more with Larman. To be a good OO developer, to truly understand what object oriented means, you’ve got to treat classes as objects with responsibilities, and be knowledgeable on how to assign them. Larman’s book is classic in this category.
Here’s what Martin Fowler had to say on the subject.
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Understanding responsibilities is key to good object-oriented design.
–Martin Fowler
quoted in Applying UML and Patterns |
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The critical distinction between a craftsman and an expert is what happens after a sufficient level of expertise has been achieved. The expert will do everything she can to remain wedded to a single context, narrowing the scope of her learning, her practice, and her projects. The craftsman has the courage and humility to set aside her expertise and pick up an unfamiliar technology or learn a new domain.
–Dave Hoover
in article on StickyMinds.com |
This is a great definition of a software craftsman: the best I found so far. The article by Dave Hoover on StickyMinds.com is a very good one, link below. Especially if you want to find out who a craftsman really is.
What can you learn from this? Be humble. Be curious. Be eager to learn new technologies. And be lazy. 
ReferenceExperts, Craftsman, and Ignorance by Dave Hoover
Related PostEvery Craftsman is Dump and Lazy
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The reason you write a spec is not to solve every possible problem in advance: the reason you write a spec is to solve as many problems as you possibly can in advance so that you minimize the number of surprises that come up during development.
–Joel Spolsky
- talking about Copilot.com spec |
Reference:Blog entry about The Project Aardvark Spec by Joel Spolsky
Related:The original spec (pdf) by Joel Spolsky
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Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
–Frederick P. Brooks
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You can be a good developer by studying successful patterns and best practices, but if you want to become a great developer, you’ve got to know a technology’s limits.
–Bruce Tate
in preface of BitterEJB, 2003 |
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A software engineer understands that self-improvement and continous learning are fundemental activities for an IT professional.
–Alan Monnox
in preface of Rapid J2EE Development, 2005 |
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Good code is its own best documentation. As you’re about to add a comment, ask yourself, ‘How can I improve the code so that this comment isn’t needed?’ Improve the code and then document it to make it even clearer.
–Steve C McConnell
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Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.
–Martin Fowler
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Simple systems are easier to build, easier to maintain, smaller, and faster than complex ones. … Simplicity is often not an easy goal to achieve. Programmers love complexity, so they have a strong tendency to over complicate their work. It’s often easier to quickly build an overly complex system than it is to spend the time required to make the system simple.
–Allen Holub
in his recent book, Holub on Patterns, 2004 |
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… best programmers think through the design of their code before they actually write it.
–Scott W. Ambler
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