Reading Notes: Professional Software Development (Part 2)

Book: Professional Software Development

Author: Steve McConnell

Great Software Designers

• Able to look at both big picture and details.
• Able to see patterns and apply solutions.
• Have mastery of tools.
• Able to make something complex as simple as possible:
  • "You know that you have achieved perfection in design not when you have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing more to take away" (Antoine de Saint Exupery).
  • "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler" (Albert Einstein).
• Seek out criticism.
• Learn from failures.
• Persistent.
• Creative.

Individual vs Team

• A study finds that the average programmer only spends 30% of his time working alone.
• Another study found that the biggest contributor to overall productivity is team cohesiveness.