The Clean Coder: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

An exceptional programmer does not equate to a professional.

In “Clean Coder,” software expert Robert “Uncle Bob” Martin describes the mindset and behaviors beyond writing code necessary to become a professional programmer.

He shares plenty of practical advice for both beginners and advanced programmers, such as:

• How to behave professionally under pressure?
• How do you react when your boss demands that a task be completed faster than you think is possible?
• How can you reliably estimate effort?
• Which tests should one write, and when?
• How do you behave professionally towards your teammates?

You can tell that the author draws from a hard-earned wealth of experience. But you don’t always have to agree with him.

For example, I don’t think the flow state has more disadvantages than advantages. I can also get into the flow during pair programming. And it’s OK to find a solution alone in flow and then reprogram it in pair.

The book contains many personal, entertaining anecdotes from Bob’s long career. For younger readers, though, the stories from the 60s and 70s, when people still worked with punch cards and teleprinters, might be a bit too antiquated ;)

A must-read for anyone who wants to call themselves a software professional.

🎧 Suitable as an audiobook? Yes! This is one of the few programming books about practices beyond the actual code. You won’t find a single line of source code or a single UML diagram in this book. It is therefore absolutely suitable as an audiobook.