I’ve been a fan of the Pragmatic Programmers’ Press books and other instructional material for quite a long time. While on the flights to and from San Francisco for WWDC, I was able to go old skool and read my copy of The Passionate Programmer. I’d like to share a few thoughts below.

I was interested in this book because while I feel myself to be a competent and mostly passionate programmer, I want to take my skills, and career to the next level. I was looking for a few pointers here and there more than any major career changing advice.

Let’s start with the obvious, the title. The Passionate Programmer started life originally as “My job went to India”. I, as I’m sure were many others, was put off by the title alone. It seemed the odd book out of the Pragmatic Programmers’ series of books. The last thing I wanted to read was that I should be working harder for less money in order to compete with lower wage programmers from other corners of the Earth.

The Passionate Programmer is not a cover to cover read. I found myself skipping through the book, stopping at essays that interested me at that particular moment. For instance, I’ve been seeking out a mentor for quite some time, and the essay on seeking out a mentor provided a few helpful hints on finding one. Not only that, it reaffirmed to me the reasons I wanted one, and offered other things to consider when choosing a mentor. And yes, you should choose your mentor, not the other way around.

Some of the essays are ones I could have used a few years ago, such as the essay describing the business from your manager’s, boss’ or even CEO’s point of view. I learned several of those lessons the hard way, and I found it reassuring that someone as esteemed as Chad Fowler also went through the school of hard knocks on occasion. We’re all human after all.

The overlying theme of the book, in my estimation, is that there is only one person responsible for your career: You. This collection of essays points the reader to many helpful follow up questions, tasks and todos to follow with at the end of each essay. The true passionate programmer will take the bull by the horns when the time is right, and be able to guide their career to whichever direction they so choose. There is no secret sauce.

Thanks Chad Fowler for authoring such a helpful book. I recommend this read to anyone, be them in a career slump, just starting their career, or just want to see how someone else has managed their career.