The Clean Coder: A Code Of Conduct For Professional Programmers

"'Uncle Bob' Martin definitely raises the bar with his latest book. He explains his expectation for a professional programmer on management interactions, time management, pressure, on collaboration, and on the choice of tools to use. Beyond TDD and ATDD, Martin explains what every programmer who considers him- or herself a professional not only needs to know, but also needs to follow in order to make the young profession of software development grow." --Markus Gartner Senior Software Developer it-agile GmbH www.it-agile.de www.shino.de "Some technical books inspire and teach; some delight and amuse. Rarely does a technical book do all four of these things. Robert Martin's always have for me and The Clean Coder is no exception. Read, learn, and live the lessons in this book and you can accurately call yourself a software professional." --George Bullock Senior Program Manager Microsoft Corp. "If a computer science degree had 'required reading for after you graduate,' this would be it. In the real world, your bad code doesn't vanish when the semester's over, you don't get an A for marathon coding the night before an assignment's due, and, worst of all, you have to deal with people. So, coding gurus are not necessarily professionals. The Clean Coder describes the journey to professionalism ... and it does a remarkably entertaining job of it." --Jeff Overbey University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign "The Clean Coder is much more than a set of rules or guidelines. It contains hard-earned wisdom and knowledge that is normally obtained through many years of trial and error or by working as an apprentice to a master craftsman. If you call yourself a software professional, you need this book." --R. L. Bogetti Lead System Designer Baxter Healthcare www.RLBogetti.com

Robert C. Martin ("Uncle Bob") has been a programmer since 1970. He is founder and president of Object Mentor, Inc., an international firm of highly experienced software developers and managers who specialize in helping companies get their projects done. Object Mentor offers process improvement consulting, object-oriented software design consulting, training, and skill development services to major corporations worldwide. Martin has published dozens of articles in various trade journals and is a regular speaker at international conferences and trade shows. He has authored and edited many books, including: *Designing Object Oriented C++ Applications Using the Booch Method *Patterns Languages of Program Design 3 *More C++ Gems *Extreme Programming in Practice *Agile Software Development: Principles, Patterns, and Practices *UML for Java Programmers *Clean Code A leader in the industry of software development, Martin served for three years as editor-in-chief of the C++ Report, and he served as the first chairman of the Agile Alliance.

Foreword         xiii

Preface         xix

Acknowledgments         xxiii

About the Author         xxix

On the Cover         xxxi

Pre-Requisite Introduction          1

Chapter 1: Professionalism          7

Be Careful What You Ask For    8

Taking Responsibility    8

First, Do No Harm    11

Work Ethic    16

Bibliography    22

Chapter 2: Saying No          23

Adversarial Roles    26

High Stakes    29

Being a Team Player    30

The Cost of Saying Yes    36

Code Impossible    41

Chapter 3: Saying Yes         45

A Language of Commitment    47

Learning How to Say Yes    52

Conclusion    56

Chapter 4: Coding          57

Preparedness    58

The Flow Zone    62

Writers Block    64

Debugging    66

Pacing Yourself    69

Being Late    71

Help    73

Bibliography    76

Chapter 5: Test Driven Development         77

The Jury Is In    79

The Three Laws of TDD    79

What TDD Is Not    83

Bibliography    84

Chapter 6: Practicing         85

Some Background on Practicing    86

The Coding Dojo    89

Broadening Your Experience    93

Conclusion    94

Bibliography    94

Chapter 7: Acceptance Testing         95

Communicating Requirements    95

Acceptance Tests    100

Conclusion    111

Chapter 8: Testing Strategies         113

QA Should Find Nothing    114

The Test Automation Pyramid    115

Conclusion    119

Bibliography    119

Chapter 9: Time...