--- product_id: 11085022 title: "Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual" price: "NZ$107" currency: NZD in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.nz/products/11085022-soft-skills-the-software-developers-life-manual store_origin: NZ region: New Zealand --- # Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual **Price:** NZ$107 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual - **How much does it cost?** NZ$107 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.nz](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/11085022-soft-skills-the-software-developers-life-manual) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Summary 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. In it, developer and life coach John Sonmez addresses a wide range of important "soft" topics, from career and productivity to personal finance and investing, and even fitness and relationships, all from a developer-centric viewpoint. Forewords by Robert C. Martin (Uncle Bob) and Scott Hanselman. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. About the Book For most software developers, coding is the fun part. The hard bits are dealing with clients, peers, and managers, staying productive, achieving financial security, keeping yourself in shape, and finding true love. This book is here to help. Soft Skills: The software developer's life manual is a guide to a well-rounded, satisfying life as a technology professional. In it, developer and life coach John Sonmez offers advice to developers on important "soft" subjects like career and productivity, personal finance and investing, and even fitness and relationships. Arranged as a collection of 71 short chapters, this fun-to-read book invites you to dip in wherever you like. A Taking Action section at the end of each chapter shows you how to get quick results. Soft Skills will help make you a better programmer, a more valuable employee, and a happier, healthier person. What's Inside Boost your career by building a personal brand John's secret ten-step process for learning quickly Fitness advice to turn your geekiness to your advantage Unique strategies for investment and early retirement About the Author John Sonmez is a developer, teacher, and life coach who helps technical professionals boost their careers and live a more fulfilled life. Table of Contents Why this book is unlike any book you've ever read SECTION 1: CAREER Getting started with a "BANG!": Don't do what everyone else does Thinking about the future: What are your goals? People skills: You need them more than you think Hacking the interview Employment options: Enumerate your choices What kind of software developer are you? Not all companies are equal Climbing the corporate ladder Being a professional Freedom: How to quit your job Freelancing: Going out on your own Creating your first product Do you want to start a startup? Working remotely survival strategies Fake it till you make it Resumes are BORING&;Let's fix that Don't get religious about technology SECTION 2: MARKETING YOURSELF Marketing basics for code monkeys Building a brand that gets you noticed Creating a wildly successful blog Your primary goal: Add value to others #UsingSocialNetworks Speaking, presenting, and training: Speak geek Writing books and articles that attract a following Don't be afraid to look like an idiot SECTION 3: LEARNING Learning how to learn: How to teach yourself My 10-step process Steps 1-6: Do these once Steps 7-10: Repeat these Looking for mentors: Finding your Yoda Taking on an apprentice: Being Yoda Teaching: Learn you want? Teach you must. Do you need a degree or can you "wing it?" Finding gaps in your knowledge SECTION 4: PRODUCTIVITY It all starts with focus My personal productivity plan Pomodoro Technique My quota system: How I get way more done than I should Holding yourself accountable Multitasking dos and don'ts Burnout: I've got the cure! How you're wasting your time The importance of having a routine Developing habits: Brushing your code Breaking things down: How to eat an elephant The value of hard work and why you keep avoiding it Any action is better than no action SECTION 5: FINANCIAL What are you going to do with your paycheck? How to negotiate your salary Options: Where all the fun is Bits and bytes of real estate investing Do you really understand your retirement plan? The danger of debt: SSDs are expensive Bonus: How I retired at 33 SECTION 6: FITNESS Why you need to hack your health Setting your fitness criteria Thermodynamics, calories, and you Motivation: Getting your butt out of the chair How to gain muscle: Nerds can have bulging biceps How to get hash-table abs Starting RunningProgram.exe Standing desks and other hacks Tech gear for fitness: Geeking out SECTION 7: SPIRIT How the mind influences the body Having the right mental attitude: Rebooting Building a positive self-image: Programming your brain Love and relationships: Computers can't hold your hand My personal success book list Facing failure head-on Parting words Review: I visited the authors website to get a better picture of him and was bombarded with a pop ... - 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? Review: I'm glad I bought this book early in my career - 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. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #1,673,730 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1,916 in Software Development (Books) #5,124 in Marketing (Books) #134,037 in Health, Fitness & Dieting (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 499 Reviews | ## Images ![Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/A1tYa0EpiyL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I visited the authors website to get a better picture of him and was bombarded with a pop ... *by E***D on March 20, 2018* 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 *by J***A on March 25, 2015* 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. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The missing manual *by R***R on April 24, 2016* 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. ## Frequently Bought Together - Soft Skills: The software developer's life manual - Clean Architecture: A Craftsman's Guide to Software Structure and Design (Robert C. Martin Series) - Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.nz/products/11085022-soft-skills-the-software-developers-life-manual](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/11085022-soft-skills-the-software-developers-life-manual) --- *Product available on Desertcart New Zealand* *Store origin: NZ* *Last updated: 2026-05-31*