The Pragmatic Programmer highlighted points: Intro and Preface
Tags: books, productivity, programming, writing
Published: 2020-11-08 15:46:44

# Intro

Heya!

I have been wanting to do this for quite some time and I finally take the courage to start typing this. It begins when my current company, [Piktochart](https://piktochart.com) bought **The Pragmatic Programmer 20th Edition** for the developers. I am not a reader by nature, but this book has been recommended and stays relevant to the developer community for 20 years, so I'm tempted to read it myself.

While reading, I found there are a lot of points that I find very true and useful. Thus, I believe that highlighting those points may help me to remember more!

And this is the reason behind me for writing this post, to share the highlighted points and hopefully, it's useful for you. (And thanks for reading my intro in the first place!)

ps: *The post will be separated by the chapters, from 1 to 9. I will post a new chapter every week, so stay tuned!*

# Disclaimer

The highlighted points that I wrote here are based on "The Pragmatic Programmer 20th Anniversary Edition" Version: P1.0, September 13, 2019. The points that I picked are based on my subjectivity and experiences.

Some people also have written the summary as well out there, for example: [https://github.com/HugoMatilla/The-Pragmatic-Programmer](https://github.com/HugoMatilla/The-Pragmatic-Programmer)

The summary here is just *the tip of the iceberg* from the original book as there are more details and examples not mentioned. **Please support and [buy the original book](https://pragprog.com/titles/tpp20/the-pragmatic-programmer-20th-anniversary-edition/) for the full overview**.

*If the publisher finds this inappropriate, please email me at chenxeed@gmail.com and I will unpublish this article at will.*

# Preface

This book will help you to become a better programmer. It isn't theoretical, but more on practical topics. This book is about doing.

Programming is a craft. There is no best solution. Don't just stick to any particular technology but have a broad enough background and experience base to allow you to have more options in particular situations.

## Who should read this book?

This book is aimed at those who want to become more effective and productive programmers.

## What makes a pragmatic programmer?

These are the characteristics:

- **Early Adopter**: You love trying things out, and able to grasp it quickly.
- **Inquisitive**: You tend to ask questions to clarify the facts
- **Critical Thinker**: You rarely take things without first getting the facts and challenges it
- **Realistic**: You understand the nature of the problem and how much effort it will take
- **Jack of all trades**: You're familiar with a broad range of technologies and environments

Apart from the characteristic above, these are the most basic:
- **Care about your craft**: Make sure you are doing it well
- **Think! About your work**: Always think what you are doing

## Individual Pragmatists, Large Teams

Within the overall structure of a project, there is always room for individuality and craftsmanship.

## It's a Continuous Process

Every day, work to refine the skills you have and to add new tools to your projects.

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Thanks for reading, I would like to know your feedback if you find this post interesting, or if you have any suggestion to make it better. See you in the next post!