The Senior Software Engineer: 11 Practices of an Effective Technical Leader

Great examples, great insight into navigating the corporate halls. As an almost 20 year vet myself, I found lots of little "Oh that's a good idea" type of nuggets here. Ideal for those moving from junior into advanced. Less ideal for those who are already senior but still worth the money IMO. It takes about two days-ish to read for a senior person and, if nothing else, you'll be reminded of lessons you learned 5+ years ago but had forgotten or things that were so "natural" to you but not natural to others. Excellent book.

This book is great, very useful for a software engineer

Decent book and worth a read.Seems like David and I differ on the definition of a "Senior Software Engineer", personally, I feel the book is suitable for a Software Engineer with 1-3 years of experience since at least the first 3 quarters of the book talks about a lot of basics that I feel most software engineer should know.If you have been in the industry for more than 5 years I think only about few chapters would be useful to you for a review. Having said that I would have loved to have this book in hand when I was starting off and even now it was good to review the major talking points.

Although you may feel hey I have heard that before, this book will crystalize your random thoughts in a structured way to bring out the best in you, and if your starting your career as a software developer great read. I wish I had this book 2 years before.

Great book on what it takes to be a senior engineer.

Having worked with Dave Copeland and received first-hand much of the wisdom he's laid out in The Senior Software Engineer, I can attest to both his engineering and pedagogical prowess. Generally regarded by his peers as "the engineer that gets 10X done", his approaches increase the output and quality of any organization that he's a part of, while creating an environment of trust and mentorship.I see The Senior Software Engineer as a complement to "The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master", building upon great engineering practices, with a hefty dose of business and organizational acumen.Thanks for putting this in writing, Dave.

This book reveals very important aspects of working in software organization that many hardcore geeks miss out. For last 17 years, I was focused on mastering technical aspects only and was missing bigger picture of working in software organization. My previous narrow technical vision has been affecting my career prospects. This book opens up lots of areas that I was previously blindsided. Great job David Bryant Copeland.

Wisdom went into this book, drawn from the author's almost 20 year career in software development. The wisdom can be seen in the topic selection, and the book's progression through its chapters, which is intended to guide the reader to a new results- and leadership-oriented mindset. However, the book is marred by a heavy handed, prescriptive tone without a lot of thoughtful development. The prose reads more like a second or third draft, in that it could be tightened up, reworded, and clarified. Finally, I found a few dozen spelling mistakes, in addition to about a dozen sentences that were hacked up during a rewrite and not properly reassembled.Overall, while the book has its merits, a reader's time is short and precious. You're better off with other books.