Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual

I almost didn’t buy this book. I visited the authors website to get a better picture of him and was bombarded with a pop up and pictures of his biceps. As an engineer, I thought: “this guy can’t really be one of us” (but who knows? He seems to get readers). I read this books table of contents, and while all the topics are important to understand, they didn’t seem to justify the price of the book to me. So why did I buy it? I realized I had read a lot of professional software development books: on languages, coding style, design patterns, high level concepts, mindset, etc. But I had a blind spot: no books on software development social/soft skills. I searched for software development books on social skills and this one stuck out. There also doesn’t seem to be much competition (if you know of any other good ones, please let me know). So against all my instincts telling me “this guy is not really an engineer. He’s a marketing bro. How could he know what he’s talking about? How could this book apply to my life?” I decided to purchase the book. My next thought was shock: “WHAT? The delivery time is TWO WEEKS? It’s not prime!?” When the book finally arrived and I started reading it, it didn’t take me long to start making highlights, bookmarking sections, and writing notes. The book is good. He gives a lot of good advice in a wide variety of topics. The ones I found most useful were about career planning, networking, marketing, productivity, and mindset. He surprised me by offering advice I hadn’t heard before and can instantly put into practice. I would share them here, but he deserves the book sales. When you have a book with such a wide variety of topics, it’s inevitable that many readers will already have a good understanding of a few of those topics. For me it was personal finance, fitness, and diet. I didn’t think his chapter on dating added value either. His writing was simple and easy to understand, but not exactly spellbinding. He opens a lot of chapters with a single paragraph explaining why the subject is important and follows it by saying “now that I’ve convinced you this subject is important…” Most of the time, he didn’t. It felt cheesy. But his points are clear and he offers a lot of important questions to ask yourself. This book covers a lot of subjects at a high level with examples you can put to use right away. I think most readers will be able to take away a few things that they can apply to their own lives that over time will make a significant difference. What more can you ask for from a book?

I'm glad I bought this book early in my career! I'm only 1 year into my professional career (early 20's) and I believe this book has given me the knowledge necessary to be a successful software developer and just a better person overall. I especially enjoyed reading the sections on productivity and learning how to learn. John has learned a lot of what he knows the hard way, through trial and error. I'm glad to have the opportunity to learn from such a knowledgeable professional. Since buying this book I have been reading John's blog and watching his YouTube videos which give additional tips on self improvement for software developers. I also liked that buying the book gives you access to the PDF because you can then listen to the book using one of the many available PDF to Speech mobile apps. This means I can commute and exercise while learning! (one of his multitasking tips) Well, now that I have finished the book, time to apply what I have learned! This book will be one that I refer back to over the years.

A practical guide, covering all aspects of life from a software developer. If you are frustrated at your progress, this book will point you in the right direction. John particular tells you to pick a specialty and tells you the pros and cons of different career paths and how NOT to waste time! He also goes into depth into creating your personal brand and standing out over the competition. Also, I can attest to the sections on learning and productivity - especially the Pomodoro technique. You will have to look it up yourself, but it has done wonders for my daily routine. While I appreciate the sections talking about finance and fitness, they only go into the basics which I think most people don't know. The final section on having the right attitude and dealing with failure is spot on. Overall, a must read if you are starting your career in the world of software development.

Soft Skills has a lot of useful advice and software and life in general. The book is split into seven sections with the first parts being about career and marketing yourself. I thought these parts offered the best advice from the book and gave a lot of useful insights into the software industry. The middle of the book is focused on learning and productivity. There were some techniques here that I had not seen before, and would be interesting to try. The author has done a lot of reading himself about these subjects and has useful links to other books as well. However, the later sections on Financial, Fitness, and Spirit strayed away from software too much I thought. In the financial section there is a section about the stock market. The book recommends short term options trading over a long term approach. An example is given that say you think Microsoft's next OS will sell really well... you could buy call options and a make a huge profit. There was not much talking about the earnings of the company, mathematical modelling of options, or the risk. The writing made it sound like options trading is easy money, and that is where I thought some readers may be led astray. In many sections the author includes links which go to his website but you have go through a paywall to reach his services. I did not appreciate that the book is trying to upsell on his products. Overall I was thinking the content of the book would be a bit different. I liked the design on the cover and was thinking this book was on how to obtain mastery over software. I have often wondered how some programmers are exceptional while others remain mediocre. My hope was to find a manual that would put me on the path to mastery of software. Too many sections went into subjects not related to software in any way. There are other excellent books out there for marketing, investing, weight lifting, and spirituality.

I've read up to page 167, but I would've never thought to have my resume professionally completed, or how about starting a blog. I'm very excited after reading a small portion of Soft Skills. I also have "The Complete Software Developer's Career Guide: How to Learn Your Next Programming Language, Ace Your Programming Interview, and Land The Coding Job Of Your Dreams". Getting hired is important and I don't want to risk it, and what better way then to learn how to get hired and thrive as a software developer. These books will help me in areas I never considered; so glad I purchased them

I'm about a hundred pages into this book and I have to say it's good reading. Some other commenters are complaining about it being too shallow, but I think the point of the book is to cover a lot of topics in a well-rounded coverage. As such, the chapters have to be presented in a "100 words or less" kind of treatment (figuratively speaking), and they're meant to act as a springboard for delving deeper into the topics that apply to the particular reader. A lot of what's discussed can apply to any field, not just coding. It has some good common-sense advice and some strategies the reader may not have thought about. I'll no doubt be going back to the book for occasional motivation and ideas whenever I need them.

This book's first half was pretty good where it actually dealt with developer issues and career progression. The point where it really put me off was when John started talking about things like real estate investments. Real estate may have worked out well for the author, but by no means should people be taking out high leverage loans without understanding all the risks involved. The part that made me put the book down was when John recounted a story where he bought two properties sight unseen. Without further context, this decision is astoundingly reckless and a terrible habit to teach newbie investors.

The truth is that in the career of a software developer, the ability to code is one the easiest skills to acquire. The more challenging skills are the practices which support, structure, and leverage technical knowledge into a highly valuable, effective, and enjoyable work life. It is exactly these types of practices that Sonmez provides a thorough overview of in this excellent volume. He addresses a broad range of "soft skills" such as fitness, finance, investing, real estate, resumes, productivity, and self learning. He introduces the reader to many practical and actionable practices such as the Pomodoro, a specific piece of wisdom worth the price of the book. In my opinion, this book deserves to be on every developer's short shelf--right next to Uncle Bob, Martin Fowler, and Kent Beck.

Despite the "software developer" part of the title this book is applicable to almost every knowledge worker. It provides a well-structured and actionable review of almost every aspect of professional life. It addresses such topics as how to market yourself and get a better job, how to negotiate your salary, how to be professional and what differentiates one from an amateur, how to deal with burnout, how to learn new things quickly and effectively, how to set your goals and reach them, and much more. I also enjoyed the topics about personal finance planning, in particular about avoiding silly spendings and doing smart investments, as well as section about being fit and healthy. The book is easy to read, it is alive, vibrant, and each section ends with a list of specific actions to follow. I recommend this book to any knowledge worker!

If you are a programmer it's easy to get sucked into the 'tech' side of everything but at the end of the day you still need to have a solid foundation in things other than just programming to be a successful programmer. I was lucky enough to learn some of these things early on in my career but if you are just starting out I would highly recommend you take the time to digest this book as it will probably be the single best piece of advice for your career.

Man, I really wish that I have read this book a few years later. It covers a lot of interesting and obvious things that we miss every single day. Since not accepting that crappy job of yours that does not give you anything good until organizing yourself, planning your tasks, making goals and becoming successful. I did not finish the book yet, because every chapter I learn something new and I'm trying to apply it right away. The book is light to read, definitely not boring as John quote examples of his life that most of the times are exactly what (we) developers live everyday. If you are a software developer, read this book, you'll thank me later (and of course, John too!)

This is an awesome book. It tells you about many aspects in career of a software developer. How you can climb corporate ladder, marketing your personal brand, how to write good blog, why developers should go to the gym and what to do there, how to invest as a developer. Many interesting topics. I have been inspired a lot from reading this book. Highly recommend!!!

Un livre que chaque développeur devrait posséder, une vraie mine d'or pour donner un coup de boost à sa carrière