So as some of you might know I been on my journey to becoming a Front End Web Developer and been having a blast.
Along with that I wanted to begin immersing myself in the field and one of the ways I thought about doing this was with books.
If you don’t read books I suggest that you should, especially in the area you find interest in.
I stumbled upon this one book through watching a series of videos by a guy name John Sonmez from Simple Programmer. I didn’t know who he was but his content caught my attention. When I found out he had a book on the field of software development I told myself I should check this out.
Honestly I wasn’t to sure if the book was really for me because I was not to sure if web development was actually classified as in the field of “software development”.
Lo and behold after reading the book it actually is.
Nevertheless I bought the book and do not regret on ounce of it.
So with those words alone should you read the book?
My answer is…YES.
Any and everything that you know and don’t know about the field of software development is broken down into this book.
With that being said let’s get down into what I got from this book and what you can too.
What The Book Is About?
I think I touched a little bit about this already but the book, from my perspective, is a self development guide into the world of software development.
John has formatted the book into different categories:
- Getting started
- Getting a job
- The fundamentals of software development
- And advancing your career
He created the book for specific individuals or what he saw that this industry lacked for software developers.
He wrote this book for beginners, mid level, and experienced professionals. It sounds like it was made for generally everybody but throughout the read he gives specific insight from what he has experienced himself along with giving developers a chance to better position themselves.
Whether it be that they want to work on their own time or grow within a company to make themselves indispensable.
I see it as really a beginners “how to” guide from any level if you ask me. No matter what level your at.
It kind of surprised me when he says how some developers don’t know this or rather overlook it because developers only focus on developing their technical skills and not their soft skills.
It makes sense.
I mean who am I to talk? I’m just getting into the game myself, I guess that’s why I’m reading books like this! I want to get better and be better.
The Topics
Don’t know where to get started? No problem
The book defines simple steps on steps you can take and most importantly creating a plan for what DAILY steps you should do to learn to create and accomplish your goal as a software developer.
He defines the basics of what you should learn, no matter what software language you pick up. Just generally in software development. Essentially the fundamentals of any software language.
The book is broken down so easily its as almost like an FAQ section for software developers.
Questions as “what programming language you should learn?”, to “how to learn a language?”, and even the route that would be best suited to learn: college, bootcamp, or teaching yourself.
Want to know how to get a job in the field?
Again I say no worries. John gives simple, if you noticed I highlight simple since that is his motto, and easy steps to how to find a job with or without experience. Then resume building and even salaries and negotiation. He really goes in depth, which is probably why the book is so thick!
Finally, well not finally but semi-finally (if that is even a word lol), for those entering the field and wanting to advance their career. He gives a synopsis of the different areas and roles as well as methodologies a developer should know when working for a company and a team. Also how to deal with working in the field from your boss to coworkers. Then he touches on the fact of how as Gary Vaynerchuck would say “building your brand”.
He goes over how to create a reputation, network, specializing, and even maintaining your skills.
To me there is no area that he has not touched on as well as giving guidelines to help you look, make, and be better. Whether it be reputation, making more money, or just having authority in the field
My Takeaway
When you first get the book do not be discouraged to how Massively thick the book is. I cannot stress how thick this book was lol. I was like “Bruh I wasn’t expecting this!”, I mean seriously it’s like a textbook.
Regardless of the size, get ready because you are about to be schooled lol.
The first thing I realized when I opened this book was of how an easy read it was going to be. The way John wrote the book was simple, lighthearted, and whimsical to catch the readers attention.
I know it caught mines.
I love how the book breaks down for someone who does not even know what software development entails, and just getting started that can be a little intimidating. Especially when you think they’re going to use fancy terms,which there are, and algorithms that can scare, let alone deter, anyone from learning about software development.
However I was determined to learn it!
Yet, John does nothing of the sort. He breaks his book down into many categories for those beginners trying to learn, who been in the game for sometime, and those who want to advance their career.
I thought it was brilliant, especially how he covered so many topics on how developers can develop, lol a play on words, themselves.
For someone who doesn’t even know what QA is, which is Quality Assurance– no worries he covers that in the book, to anything a developer should familiarize themselves with.
Just getting into the game and you don’t know where to begin? Don’t relent, John gives simple solutions, as well as resources, on where and how to get started.
Again he does it by keeping it simple!
He even gives ways into marketing yourself as a developer.
This book is what I can say is something as a timeless piece. He is not solely focusing on software development but how to market yourself in this field which can be applied to just about any endeavor your looking to get into.
I absolutely loved the book and could not put it down and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to change careers and want to learn more about the industry of software development and self development.
I enjoyed his writing style so much I implemented some of his tactics within mine : ).
Definitely a must read so get the book!
you can buy HERE, this is not an affiliate link so no proceeds come my way, I just really enjoyed the book
Also check out ya boy John Sonmez at his site or youTube channel