Soft Skills
by John Z. Sonmez · first published 2015
82% recommend18% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Career-focused life manual for software developers, covering mentoring, navigating corporate life, and career choices; suited to self-taught or career-changing developers and to experienced engineers alike.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
This guide offers advice to technology professionals and developers on subjects of career and productivity, personal finance and investing, and fitness and relationships. It will help you become a better programmer, a more valuable employee, and a happier, healthier person.
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…actuary before I did software, I plan on going back to my old companies and contracting myself because I know they have data analytics needs I can meet. If you want an excellent book on this topic, read "Soft Skills" by John Sonmez. Excellent book for shaping your career.
on “Ask HN: Contractors, what is your hourly rate?” ↗Soft Skills: The software developer's life manual is a unique guide, offering techniques and practices for a more satisfying life as a professional software developer. https://www.amazon.com/Soft-Skills-software-developers-manua...
on “Ask HN: Which non-programming books are a beneficial read for programmers?” ↗I like this one: https://www.manning.com/books/soft-skills It's good in general and gives great life lesson how to navigate your career and the choices you may face.
on “The software developer's life manual” ↗…are everywhere) 10. Software Engineering at Google (Addressing the biggest scaling problems) Honorable Mentions: 1. Clean Code (Writing code that is easy to understand by other developers) 2. The Soft Skills (Coding alone is not enough to be a great software engineer) 3. Peopleware (Managing software teams).
on “Ask HN: Top 10 Timeless Software Books That ChangedLife as Software Engineer?” ↗Check out the book SoftSkills by John Sonmez. https://www.amazon.com/Soft-Skills-software-developers-manua...
on “Ask HN: What non-technical skills make a senior dev and how to develop them?” ↗…add the Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, great book and if he has time, I'd go for it). I'd also consider giving him a couple of books, like: A) Clean Code by Bob Martin, B) Soft Skills by Jon Sonmez. Books that doesn't require a computer, yet teach the reader how a good developer should think while writing code and working in a team. It's also less likely he gets stuck while reading…
on “Ask HN: Learning to code, without a computer?” ↗Here's a few I enjoyed: Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual The Lean Startup The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation
on “Ask HN: Which non-programming books are a beneficial read for programmers?” ↗While mentoring is only a chapter in this book, I strongly recommend Soft Skills: A software developer’s life manual [1][2]. I think you’ll find the mentoring chapter really useful, but the rest of the book is a must have if you’re a software engineer. I’d say even if you’re fairly…
on “Ask HN: Best resources on becoming a better mentor?” ↗My book is in context of changing career over to software engineer... "SOFT SKILLS" by John Somnez. Not sure if there's any alternative today for self taught people, but this book released right when I had started obtaining real work. Obviously just my personal experience.
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life?” ↗…think System-Design Interview insiders Second Edition is a modern book around lots of concepts talked about on HN over the last 5-10 years. Others on my list that I think are good books: * Empowered * Soft Skills * Pragmatic Programmer * Clean Architecture * Staff Engineer by Will Larson
on “Ask HN: Best programming books in the last couple of years?” ↗I have all of these on my shelf. Fantastic reads. * Extreme Programming Explained by Kent Beck * Clean Code and The Clean Coder by Robert C. Martin * Soft Skills by John Sonmez (1st edition) * Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas * Working Effectively with Legacy Code by Michael Feathers * The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick Brooks (Selfish…
on “Ask HN: Reading material on how to be a better software engineer?” ↗I recommend "Soft Skills: A software developer's life manual" by John Sonmez http://www.manning.com/sonmez/
on “Ask HN: What are your best “soft skill” resources?” ↗John Sonmez's Soft Skills has a decent section on surviving corporate life. http://amzn.to/1zLdIWf
on “What every computer science major should know (2011)” ↗These two books are must reads for sure (Or must listens, both are well narrated in audio book form) * The One Thing By Gary Keller and Jay Papasan * Soft Skills By John Sonmez
on “Ask HN: What are the most thought-provoking books that you have read?” ↗- The Road to Character (David Brooks) - Code (Charles Petzold) - Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual (John Z. Sonmez) - Zero Bugs and Program Faster (Kate Thompson) - Daemon (Daniel Suarez) - Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions (Brian…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2017?” ↗