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Sebastopol, CA—In an ideal world, software engineers who produce the best code are the most successful. But success actually depends on how you work with people to accomplish your goals and get your job done.
Fortunately a timely new title from O'Reilly aims to remove dysfunction from the development process. Written by two highly respected software engineers—Brian Fitzpatrick and Ben Collins-Sussman—Team Geek: A Software Developer's Guide to Working Well with Others (O'Reilly Media, $24.99 USD) covers basic patterns and anti-patterns for working with other people, teams, and users while trying to develop software. In fact the authors' entertaining book follows their wildly popular presentations—including "How Open Source Projects Survive Poisonous People"—which have attracted hundreds of thousands of followers.
"Contrary to the popular myth of 'superhero' programmers, software engineering is actually a team sport, and in order to succeed you need to have great social skills in addition to technical ones," explains co author Collins-Sussman. "Our book is full of advice and anecdotes about how to collaborate effectively with other programmers on your team."
Collins-Sussman continues: "What began as a series of humorous talks about dysfunctional development processes eventually turned into talks about protecting teams from jerks. Larger crowds gathered at our presentations in what can only be described as 'group therapy' for software developers."
Indeed, by learning to collaborate and investing in the "soft skills" of software engineering, you can have a much greater impact. Writing software is a team sport, and with Team Geek your game is sure to improve.
Advance Praise
"The field has needed a book like this for a long time, and finally it has arrived."
—Peter Norvig, Director of Research, Google
"...engineering is as much about people as it is science and technology, but most engineers put little or no effort into understanding how to work with others. If you want to be more effective and efficient at creating and innovating, then this book is for you."
—Dean Kamen, Founder, DEKA Research
"This delicious book speaks to your inner geek! Even if you do not consider yourself a geek, the advice is worth the time to read anyway."
—Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist, Google
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Check out Team Geek http://oreil.ly/OkesO2 via @oreillymedia
For a review copy or more information please email reviews@oreilly.com. Please include your delivery address and contact information.
Additional Resources
For more information about the book, including table of contents, author bios, and cover graphic, see: http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920018025.do
For an interview with Brian Fitzpatrick and Ben Collins-Sussman, see:
http://radar.oreilly.com/2012/07/team-geek.html
About O’Reilly
O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.