WIBWO 4: Reading and Reading and Reading and...

November 18, 2019

Last week I didn’t publish a blog post because, frankly, I didn’t get very much done. I went camping over the weekend and had other obligations during the week that didn’t leave me much time to get into anything, but I’m okay with that. Life is about balance and I can’t go at 100% for 100% of the time.

This week, however, I’ve been reading quite a bit while I figure out what to work on next. I finished Pragmatic Programmer, and my overall opinion of it was that it’s a decent high-level read for an overarching philosophy on a programmer’s mindset and soft skills, but personally I didn’t feel like I got a ton of value out of it. I think if I was a computer science student or just starting out, it would have been a much more worthwhile investment.

Upon finishing Pragmatic Programmer I immediately dove into Clean Code. I’m a few chapters in and so far it has been delightful to read. The lessons are tangible and instantly applicable to anything you are working or have worked on. Uncle Bob is unapologetic in his beliefs without coming off as arrogant. I believe this book will benefit me greatly in achieving better structure and design in my code, which is what I’ve been trying to improve in lately. I will continue to update my experience with the book as I read it.

Simultaneously, I started reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. Another book that I’ve seen enough times to convince me to read it for myself. I haven’t read enough of it to give my opinion of it just yet, but I do intend to participate in the actionable steps given towards improving habits. I find that often I read these types of books without taking them seriously enough, so I’m having the mindset of actually applying the information as I learn it to extract as much value as possible.

I have also continued to take notes on the OOP LinkedIn course that I spoke about in my last couple of posts.

Last week I was highly focused on getting things done. I plan on staying focused on the systems that keep me moving in the right direction. Goals are secondary to making sure I can make the right decisions on a daily basis that make me 1% better.

See you next week!