Apprenticeship Patterns

Are you doing all you can to further your career as a software developer? With today’s rapidly changing and ever-expanding technologies, being successful requires more than technical expertise. To grow professionally, you also need soft skills and effective learning techniques. Honing those skills is what Apprenticeship Patterns (O’Reilly, US $29.99) is all about. Authors Dave Hoover and Adewale Oshineye have cataloged dozens of behavior patterns to help you perfect essential aspects of your craft.

Compiled from years of research, many interviews, and feedback from O’Reilly’s online forum, these patterns address difficult situations that programmers, administrators, and DBAs face every day. And it’s not just about financial success. This book also approaches software development as a means to personal fulfillment. Co-author Adewale Oshineye says, "Readers will be able to take charge of their careers by applying the book’s patterns to solve the problems that they frequently encounter in their jobs."

Hoover expands on this point: "I think Ward Cunningham described best why this book is important right now. He believes that there is more information about what we do than one person can absorb, and yet some people still somehow master our craft. In his foreword, Ward wrote, ‘This book is full of patterns for mastering our complex field. Mastering is more than just knowing. It is knowing in a way that lightens your load…These patterns are a welcome contribution to this progression.’"

Discover how this book can help you make the best of both your life and your career:

Burned out at work? "Nurture Your Passion" by finding a pet project to rediscover the joy of problem solving. Feeling overwhelmed by new information? Re-explore familiar territory by building something you’ve built before, then use "Retreat into Competence" to move forward again. Stuck in your learning? Seek a team of experienced and talented developers with whom you can "Be the Worst" for a while.

Advance Praise
"Brilliant stuff! Reading this book was like being in a time machine that pulled me back to those key learning moments in my career as a professional software developer and, instead of having to learn the best practices the hard way, I had a guru sitting on my shoulder guiding me every step toward master craftsmanship. I’ll certainly be recommending this book to clients. I wish I had this book 14 years ago!"
–Russ Miles, CEO, OpenCredo

Dave Hoover, Obtiva’s Chief Craftsman, enjoys developing software developers while developing software. He specializes in delivering projects for entrepreneurs.

Adewale Oshineye, an engineer at Google, has worked on projects ranging from point-of-sale systems for electrical retailers to trading systems for investment banks.

Apprenticeship Patterns
Dave Hoover, Adewale Oshineye
ISBN: 9780596518387, 166 pages,
Book Price: $29.99 USD,
Ebook Price: $23.99 USD