Subscriber Reviews

Average Rating:  Based on 31 Ratings

"get knowledge regarding most valuable programming " - by Michal Konrad Owsiak on 06-AUG-2011
Reviewer Rating:
What I have liked from the very beginning of the book, was the way the content description was organized. There are two tables of content – first one, regular one, second one divides book into different categories, thus you can read just essays related to particular topic. Another great advantage of the book is the way essays were prepared – two pages per each of them. No wasted space, no elaborates, just the core of the problem that is discussed. The same thing refers to the index – I like books where you can find things within index easily and accurately.

Technical part of the book is the one side of he coin, second one is the content. 97 Things… is a book that covers topics you can find in many other books (Pragmatic Programmer, Agile Developer, Developers Notebook, Productive Programmer). What distinguish this book is the way topics are presented. Authors do not go deeply into details, they just sketch the issue, provide readers with the starting point and don’t give them ‘silver bullet’. Many times you will fell like – ‘hey, I knew that already’ – but that’s OK, because you started to think about the again. I liked the book, I liked the topics, however different style of each essay might be confusing a little bit. If you like consistent style over the whole book, this will be a drawback. Another thing is – if you have read books like Pragmatic Programmer or Practices of an Agile Developer, rethink buying this book. You might feel disappointed. If you haven’t read them – it might be a good starting point for getting a better programmer.
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"Excellent Resource" - by Ray F on 15-JUN-2011
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This book should be mandatory reading for anyone entering the IT industry as a developer. I wis I had this book 15 years ago!
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"Good to dip into from time to time" - by Pragmatopian on 07-MAY-2011
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Interesting to have such a broad range of insights collected in one concise volume. I read it cover to cover, but I expect it might be better taken in small doses.
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"Worth tidbits of programming wisdom" - by Christopher on 28-APR-2011
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Are there really 97 things every programmer should know?  I wasn't sure, but after reading those 97 things (it only took me a couple hours to do so as each "chapter" is very short), I must agree with the concept.  These certainly are 97 things every programmer should know.  Some are things I didn't know, many are those I've learned through experience and other learning.

However, this review of these wisdom tidbits is quite handy and reading them together is thought-provoking and inspiring.  There is nothing earth-shattering here, but whether your a programmer just starting out or have been around for a while, there is something worth reading here.  If you are new, the ideas here can set you on the right path if you think about them carefully and look for excuses to apply them.  If you are experienced, then there are ideas here to either remind you of what you have forgotten or to augment what you already know.

Note that this is not exhaustive.  It isn't the *only* things a programmer should know, just 97 of them.  There is much more to know of course and other books should be consulted.  As I read this, I kept thinking about Steve McConnell's Code Complete.  That is a text that definitely has ideas every programmer should know, just with more depth.

Again, it is a quick read.  Go through it, let it inspire you, and apply what it suggests.  There are nuggets here worth finding.
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"Overall, a Worthwhile Read" - by Crystalmonkey on 14-FEB-2011
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I think there is some redundancy in the topics, but in the end it's a good overview for programmers (experienced or not).

Sometimes it helps just to have a list of things you may already know but forget sometimes.
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