Customer Reviews

The Productive Programmer

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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I ordered this at the same time as The Clean Coder (having already read Clean Code) and read this last - I think had I read it first I may have been a little more forgiving in my critique, but I feel this book offered me nothing of real value. The snippets/suggestions for improving your mechanical productivity are unimpressive, and I can't help but wonder if the audience that would most benefit from them (in other words, is unaware of them) are even the type to buy these books? Moving past that, I found the writing to be unconvincing - not that I necessarily disagree with what was being said, but when you've read the work of Robert C. Martin (and immediately before, at that!) you become accustomed to a certain amount of justification for what is being said: a lot of it is anecdotal, but it is nonetheless enjoyable to read and digest. This is not the case with The Productive Programmer: I felt mostly like I was reading suggestions casually gathered from around the web, not forged through trial and tribulation.

The other reviews are correct in that the order in which you read this book appears to be of no significance, so perhaps I will return to it at a later time and see if I feel differently... but I can't find any reason to recommend someone read this rather than (Clean Code + The Clean Coder).

When I first read about this book, it sounded too much like the Pragmatic Programmer. However, it turns out the books are very different.

The book feels like a collection of almost unrelated essays. This can make it seem a bit disjointed at times, but it also means you can read it in almost any order.

I also bought the Windows Power Tools book and would recommend the Productive Programmer over that book. They don't cover the same ground, but a compact book that mentions really useful tools that won't date as quickly is better than a huge book of tools with very little detail about each.

Neal Ford's writing style is concise yet fun and interesting. Examples are given using a variety of platforms and languages which is really unusual in a book - and he pulls it off without it becoming distracting.

This book is chock full of useful tips both in terms of concrete solutions and high level approach to software creation. I especially appreciated Neal's learned yet down to earth tone, as well as the dash of humor he throws in for good measure. Lots of links to useful downloads and further reading. Read it while the links are still live!