Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers (Robert C. Martin Series)

by Robert C. Martin

Programming is hard. The younger you are the less you believe this.

How can you consider yourself to be a professional if you do not know that all your code works? How can you know all your code works if you don’t test it every time you make a change? How can you test it every time you make a change if you don’t have automated unit tests with very high coverage? How can you get automated unit tests with very high coverage without practicing TDD?

Programming is an intellectual exercise that requires extended periods of concentration and focus. Focus is a scarce resource, rather like manna.1 After you have expended your focus-manna, you have to recharge by doing unfocused activities for an hour or more.

Focus

The professional developer is calm and decisive under pressure. As the pressure grows he adheres to his training and disciplines, knowing that they are the best way to meet the deadlines and commitments that are pressing on him.

It’s good to be passionate about what we do. But it’s also good to keep your eye on the goals of the people who pay you.

Passionate