The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source

The Pragmatic Programmers (Interview)

Jul 11, 2019

Andy Hunt and Dave Thomas, co-authors of the iconic 'The Pragmatic Programmer,' dive into the 20th anniversary of their influential book. They discuss its evolution over the years, balancing new technologies with timeless programming principles. The duo reflects on empathy's decline in virtual interactions and the importance of learning from programming history. They also share insights into the surprising success of their publishing journey and the personal impact of their work in the tech community. A rich conversation for developers at any level!

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Timeless Focus

"The Pragmatic Programmer" focuses on people, not just technology.
People and their working styles haven't changed much, but the context has.

ANECDOTE

Underestimated Changes

The authors initially underestimated the changes over 20 years.
They had to update examples like calculating transfer times over 9600 baud modems.

ADVICE

Adapt or Struggle

Developers from 1999 would struggle in today's environment.
Embrace lifelong learning and adapt to the ever-changing tech landscape.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt, best known as the authors of The Pragmatic Programmer and founders of The Pragmatic Bookshelf, joined the show today to talk about the 20th anniversary edition of The Pragmatic Programmer. This is a beloved book to software developers all over the world, so we wanted to catch up with Andy and Dave to talk about how this book came to be, some of the wisdom shared in its contents, as well as the impact it’s had on the world of software.

Also, the beta book is now “fully content complete” and is going to production. If you decide to pick up the ebook, you’ll get a coupon for 50% off the hardcover when it comes out this fall.

Join the discussion

Changelog++ members support our work, get closer to the metal, and make the ads disappear. Join today!

Sponsors:

Linode – Our cloud server of choice. Deploy a fast, efficient, native SSD cloud server for only $5/month. Get 4 months free using the code changelog2019. Start your server - head to linode.com/changelog
GoCD + Kubernetes – With GoCD running on Kubernetes, you define your build workflow and let GoCD provision and scale build infrastructure on the fly. GoCD installs as a Kubernetes native application. Scale your build infrastructure elastically. Learn more at gocd.org/kubernetes
GitPrime – Download GitPrime’s 20 Patterns book, a field guide to help engineering managers recognize achievement, spot bottlenecks, and debug development processes with data.
Fastly – Our bandwidth partner. Fastly powers fast, secure, and scalable digital experiences. Move beyond your content delivery network to their powerful edge cloud platform. Learn more at fastly.com.

Featuring:

Andy Hunt – Website, GitHub, X
Dave Thomas – Website, GitHub, X
Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Jerod Santo – GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X

Show Notes:

Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!