The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World, Second Edition

Unrealistic schedules, unstable releases, continual overtime, and skyrocketing stress levels are legendary in the software development industry. Unlike traditional occupations such as accounting or administration, the software business is populated with programmers who are as creative and passionate about their work as musicians and artists. But for most programmers and project managers, it is a complete surprise when they enter the business world and find that internal politics, inept management, and unrealistic marketing drive the process, rather than a structured and orderly approach based on technical issues and quality.

This guide, delivered with the wit and aplomb to make a serious topic entertaining and palatable, will help you survive the programming industry. The Career Programmer explains how you can work within the existing system to solve deadline problems and regain control of the development process. Youll master self-defense techniques to shield yourself, your project, and your code from corporate politics, arbitrary management decisions, and marketing-driven deadlines. Author Chris Duncan provides proven, practical, hands-on solutions designed to work even when tested by the political and chaotic realities of the business environment. Issues are addressed from the points of view of both the programmer and project manager, and steps are illustrated from all perspectivesfrom large-scale teams down to projects with a single developer. For you, the end results will mean less overtime and stress, higher-quality software, and a more satisfying career.

A solid read with a lot of wit and humor gained from the wars. If you've been floundering along and not enjoying the ride very much, take a step back and read The Career Programmer to figure out what you can do differently...

— Tom Duff, Duffbert's Random Musings

This book is about improving every aspect of your programming job except the coding itself (actually, it might do that too).

— Jim Anderton, "Wtih a T!"

Unrealistic schedules, unstable releases, continual overtime, and skyrocketing stress levels are legendary in the software development industry. Unlike traditional occupations such as accounting or administration, the software business is populated with programmers who are as creative and passionate about their work as musicians and artists. But for most programmers and project managers, it is a complete surprise when they enter the business world and find that internal politics, inept management, and unrealistic marketing drive the process, rather than a structured and orderly approach based on technical issues and quality.

This guide, delivered with the wit and aplomb to make a serious topic entertaining and palatable, will help you survive the programming industry in 2006. The Career Programmer explains how you can work within the existing system to solve deadline problems and regain control of the development process. Youll master self-defense techniques to shield yourself, your project, and your code from corporate politics, arbitrary management decisions, and marketing-driven deadlines. Author Chris Duncan provides proven, practical, hands-on solutions designed to work even when tested by the political and chaotic realities of the business environment. Issues are addressed from the points of view of both the programmer and project manager, and steps are illustrated from all perspectivesfrom large-scale teams down to projects with a single developer. For you, the end results will mean less overtime and stress, higher-quality software, and a more satisfying career.

Founder of Practical Strategy Consulting, Christopher Duncan is the best selling author of Unite the Tribes and The Career Programmer. He's been a frequent guest on radio shows across the country, his monthly columns have been read by hundreds of thousands worldwide, and he is widely acclaimed for his immensely practical approach to success in the real world&emdash;where self interest and office politics are often more prevalent than common sense.

This keen insight does not come by accident. Christopher has an unusually diverse background which includes a career in sales consulting, life as a professional musician, and experience fighting deadlines as a cubicle-dwelling software developer. He's also performed mind-numbing factory work, labored on construction sites, and built components for guided missiles. Currently, he writes, speaks and mentors professionals on career and business strategies. He understands the problems and goals of your people, from the lowest paid workers to the executive elite, because he's been there himself and lived to tell the tale.

Whether he's talking about the job-related anxieties of the night watchman's attack Chihuahua or explaining the relationship between bunny slippers and corporate productivity, his humor and light-hearted antics will entertain your audience as he shares his vision of success through the pursuit of American excellence.

Lively, expressive, and a consummate professional with three decades of stage experience, Christopher delivers an exciting and practical message to your people, inspiring them to reach for their very best and showing them how to get there in the real world, where things don't always go according to plan. Most importantly, he makes sure that everyone has a little fun in the process.

He can be reached at www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com.