Book Review: The Complete Software Developer’s Career Guide

A couple of months ago I read a book Soft Skills by John Sonmez. I loved it and as a result, I started updating my blog every Monday. That one book made things clear in my mind and I decided to follow some of the advice John was giving. So far I’m pleased with the results.

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by John. He was writing a new book and gave me a preview. I couldn’t wait to read it. I was very curious about it. His new book is a career guide. It’s intended for developers just starting their careers, but I would say all developers will benefit from it. I learned some new things by reading this book, I’m sure you will as well.

This book is pretty big, topping 800 pages. I’ll focus here on the last three sections of the book: The Technical Skills You Need To Have, Working As a Developer and Advancing Your Career… These are the most interesting chapters to me.

Section 3: The Technical Skills You Need To Have

This section covers a wide topic of technical skills you’ll need in your career and it helps you choose the right language/path for you. I actually learned a few things reading this section. Since I’m mainly focused on mobile development I was kinda boxed into that mindset, this section educated me on other languages/technologies.

This section covers everything, from programming languages to source control. If you’re struggling what language to choose, or what career path to follow, this is the section for you. John will cover most of the popular languages and technologies and hopefully, by the end of the section, you’ll have a clear picture on what to learn.

You’ll learn more about software methodologies, debugging, testing… The section pretty much covers the technical skills you’ll need in your career.

Section 4: Working as a Developer

This section covers the social skills you’ll need in order to work as a software developer. It goes from teaching you how to deal with your colleagues to how to deal with your boss it even covers how to dress. It has a great couple of chapters on how to work effectively in a team.

You’ll learn some leadership lessons and some conflict resolution skills in this section. A must read for every developer because most of us work in a team. You’ll definitely benefit a lot from this section.

Section 5: Advancing Your Career

This is a section I was interested in the most. It kinda reminded me of Soft Skills. John talks about how to create a reputation for yourself and how best to network (one of the topics he covered was how to create a blog 🙂 ).

There’s a lot of useful material in this section, some might even say it’s controversial. John will educate you on the pros and cons of starting your own business, or on freelancing. One more thing he thought me in this chapter was to be a finisher… The man makes sense 🙂 At the end of this section you’ll find a list of books John recommends, it’s a pretty good list. I’ve read most of those books already and I agree with his choices (and I’ll read the rest I haven’t read already).

Conclusion

This is a book I wish I had when I started my career. It covers a lot of ground but it makes the path clear for you. If you’re starting your career as a software developer, or you’re unsure what path to take, read this book, you won’t regret it.

It’s not only for younglings, old sea dogs can learn a thing or two as well. It get’s you out of your bubble and opens your eyes to other possibilities.

In my opinion, this book will surpass Soft Skills, it lives up to its title, it’s a complete software developer’s career guide. Definitely, a must read.

I hope I helped you with your dilemmas on what to read next 🙂

Have a nice day 🙂

Dejan.

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