Review By: C. David Moye
04/19/2012

Essential Skills for the Software Developer is part of the Net Objectives Lean-Agile Series and seems primarily to be an accompaniment to one of the many courses taught by the Net Objectives group. This is not meant to disparage the book in any way. In fact, it is a fantastic distillation of several important modern concepts related to software engineering.

There are three main sections in the book. The first covers what the authors refer to as “trim tabs.” This is a reference to the small but essential elements on ship rudders and airline flaps that aid the larger steering elements. The idea is that individual programmers can act as trim tabs, making subtle changes to the structure of a large system that greatly impact the overall design. These trim tabs include such foundational concepts as intentional programming, encapsulation, and interface-oriented design. Each topic is given an excellent treatment and even the most refined software developer will deepen his understanding of the topics by reading through them. The second major section of the book discusses designing to the proper level of complexity and the technique of continuous integration, and the third section presents readers with techniques to improve their software design approaches.

For me, the meat of the matter is in the first and second sections. Specifically, I find that by following the core concepts of intentional design and having the right attitude toward your design, you will derive more success from your work. On those topics, the book does a wonderful job initiating the novice and also helping to smooth away rough edges on the more experienced developers.

If you are a software developer, I suggest that you pick up this book and give it a read. You will find that the overall quality of the work product that you deliver will improve—both immediately and, more importantly, over time as maintenance occurs. If you are a software development manager, you should consider picking the book up for your lead developer and asking what he or she thinks of it. My guess is that you'll be placing an order for a few more copies pretty quickly!

This book, like many others in the series, deserves a place on your shelf. Like others before it, including Emergent Design and Lean-Agile Software Development, it will be well thumbed, and your software projects will be better for it.