Apprenticeship Patterns

by Hoover, David H.; Oshineye, Adewale

• ISBN13: 9780596518387
• ISBN10: 0596518382
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-10-21
• Publisher: Oreilly & Associates Inc

Summary

Software developers face an ever-changing and ever- expanding technology landscape, which can appear as intimidating as Mt. Everest to newcomers. Developing technical skills is vital, but there are dozens of soft skills and learning techniques you need if you're to grow and succeed professionally. Honing those soft skills is a big part of what "Apprenticeship Patterns: Guidance for the Aspiring Software Craftsman" is all about. Authors Dave Hoover and Adewale Oshineye, both formerly of the global IT consultancy ThoughtWorks, have cataloged dozens of patterns of behavior to help software developers hone their craft. Developed through years of research, a multitude of interviews, and feedback from O'Reilly's online forum, these patterns address difficult situations faced by entry-level programmers, system administrators, and database administrators. Each pattern has a memorable name to help point you in the right direction when you need it most.

Author Biography

Dave Hoover is the Chief Craftsman at Obtiva where he helps lead Obtiva's Software Studio and apprenticeship program. Dave has been developing software since 2000, when he left a career in child and family therapy. In 2002, Dave read Pete McBreen's "Software Craftsmanship", which re-framed Dave's understanding of software development and how people become great software developers. Dave has become increasingly passionate about learning and has dedicated several years of his career to thinking, writing, and speaking about apprenticeship. Over the last couple years, on most days, you'd find Dave coding Ruby and Rails as the lead developer for Mad Mimi, one of his clients at Obtiva. Dave also enjoys all sorts of endurance sports.

Adewale Oshineye is an engineer at a little-known search engine named Google. This is a consequence of many deeply geeky evenings spent programming 8-bit computers when he was a child. When he grew up Adewale somehow fell into IT consultancy. His career at consultancies such as Thoughtworks gave him the chance to work on projects ranging from point-of-sale systems for electrical retailers to trading systems for investment banks. It also gave him a chance to learn from some of the most interesting software craftspeople in Western Europe. In those rare moments when he's not in front of a computer he can be found behind a digital camera somewhere in London.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Software Craftsmanship Manifesto	p. xxi
Introduction	p. 1
What Is Software Craftsmanship?	p. 3
What Is Apprenticeship?	p. 8
What Is an Apprenticeship Pattern?	p. 9
Where Did the Patterns Come From?	p. 9
Where Do We Go from Here?	p. 10
Emptying The Cup	p. 11
Your First Language	p. 13
The White Belt	p. 18
Unleash Your Enthusiasm	p. 22
Concrete Skills	p. 24
Expose Your Ignorance	p. 25
Confront Your Ignorance	p. 28
The Deep End	p. 30
Retreat into Competence	p. 32
Wrapping Up	p. 34
Walking The Long Road	p. 37
The Long Road	p. 38
Craft over Art	p. 40
Sustainable Motivations	p. 43
Nurture Your Passion	p. 45
Draw Your Own Map	p. 47
Use Your Title	p. 50
Stay in the Trenches	p. 52
A Different Road	p. 53
Wrapping Up	p. 55
Accurate Self-Assessment	p. 57
Be the Worst	p. 58
Find Mentors	p. 61
Kindred Spirits	p. 64
Rubbing Elbows	p. 66
Sweep the Floor	p. 68
Wrapping Up	p. 71
Perpetual Learning	p. 73
Expand Your Bandwidth	p. 74
Practice, Practice, Practice	p. 77
Breakable Toys	p. 79
Use the Source	p. 82
Reflect As You Work	p. 85
Record What You Learn	p. 88
Share What You Learn	p. 89
Create Feedback Loops	p. 92
Learn How You Fail	p. 94
Wrapping Up	p. 96
Construct Your Curriculum	p. 99
Reading List	p. 100
Read Constantly	p. 102
Study the Classics	p. 104
Dig Deeper	p. 105
Familiar Tools	p. 109
Wrapping Up	p. 111
Conclusion	p. 113
Pattern List	p. 119
A Call For Apprenticeship	p. 123
A Retrospective On The First Year of Obtiva's Apprenticeship Program	p. 127
Online Resources	p. 131
Bibliography	p. 133
Index	p. 137
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.