The Software Engineer

Monson-Haefel, R. (2009).  97 Things Every Software Architect Should Know . Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media Inc. http://www.amazon.com/Things-Every-Software-Architect-Should/dp/059652269X Introduction  "97 Things Every Software Architect Should Know" is an anthology of advice from industry experts prescribing through their individual experiences, what a software architect should be like. Compiled by Richard Monson-Haefel, this collection of articles elucidates the role of a software architect within the context of a business.  Valuable Insights Although the compendium has a number of articles which I find helpful while being slightly disputed with some, I find the following three "things" the most valuable. Architectural Tradeoffs [Thing #22 | Mark Richards] A software architect must always be aware of the trade-offs that exist in every quality goal that she attempts to achieve. She must understand and communicate effectively the impact of ac...

Martin, Robert C. (2011).  The Clean Coder: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers . Old Tappan, NJ: Pearson Education Inc. https://sites.google.com/site/unclebobconsultingllc/books http://www.amazon.com/Clean-Coder-Conduct-Professional-Programmers/dp/0137081073/ Introduction  The book, "The Clean Coder", focuses on aspects of the working life of a programmer in the software industry. Robert C. Martin ("Uncle Bob"), through this book emphasizes on the various aspects in which a programmer can be and appear "professional". He explores, through his long experience as a programmer, the behavior of software developers and how they are perceived by other professionals in the industry. This book can be described as a manual for the coming-of-age of a software development professional from a scruffy hacker who would be non-committal and tardy to a clean coder who asserts professionalism through her behavior and work. I have personally had an e...

Sutherland, Jeff, & Sutherland, J. J. (2014).  Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time . New York, NY: Crown Publishing Group. https://www.scruminc.com/new-scrum-the-book/ Introduction  The author, Jeff Sutherland, along with Ken Schwaber conceived Scrum as a method of improving productivity in software development teams in the early 90s. Coming from the horse's mouth, one gets an insight into the history behind Scrum and how the author evolved the process with every project he worked on or consulted for. One also gets to view the process through Sutherland's eyes as he applies that to every project. He provides ample anecdotes to supplement his arguments towards using Scrum as the process of choice not just in software development but also in other engineering as well as non-engineering domains. That said, it also brings about a bit of a confirmation bias of Sutherland regarding the efficacy of Scrum. Through the reading of the book, one desire...