The Passionate Programmer

Chad Fowler argues that software developers should run their careers like a business, building them the way one would build, market and sell a product, since their skills are the product. In his view, the choice of technologies and business domains to specialize in affects success at least as much as technical knowledge does. The book covers keeping skills fresh with a structured plan, judging where skills sit on the value chain so as to move away from commodity work toward skills in high demand, and marketing oneself inside a company and to the wider industry. Essays are mixed with practical Act on It sections, and contributors from varied career paths add their views.