Interview: Make Software Better Magazine

Fog Creek's Make Software Better Magazine (Volume 1) includes an interview with me called "Go Beyond Code to Become a Better Programmer"."

You can download it for free from https://blog.fogcreek.com/make-better-software-magazine/.

Writing; C Vu Magazine Columns (for January/March/May)

Spectacularly late, but I ought to keep the records up to date:

• My January 2016 C Vu magazine column was Bug Hunting (Part 2), concluding my series on finding and fixing software faults.
• My March 2016 column was Software Development Is..., an investigation of the finer details (the art, craft, science, and, well... gardening) of the programmer's world.
• My May 2016 column was Organised Chaos, a look at how the programmer can stay focused and organised.

Speaking: Nordevcon

I'll be speaking on Friday at Nordevcon in Norwich.

I'll be giving
 my Becoming a Better Programmer talk, and it should be great fun. Nordevcon has a strong line up this year, so it looks to be a great conference.

Writing: Bug hunting (part 1)

The latest C Vu magazine has hit respectable doormats the world over. It contains my latest column, entitled "Bug Hunting". You'll never guess what it's about.

Speaking: Juce Summit

I'm giving a "guest talk" at the Juce Summit on the 19th November. Juce is a great C++ framework that's particularly well suited to audio application development.

I'll be giving a specially crafted version of one of my favourite talks - this time called "Becoming a Better (audio) Programmer". I hope it'll be a lot of fun!

There's a lot going on at this conference - and a heroically packed schedule. Check it out here: http://www.juce.com/summit.

Speaking: XP Days Ukraine, 2015

I'm giving an opening presentation at XP Days Ukraine in October.

The talk is called Becoming a Better Programmer.

Find out more about this conference here. Looks like it will be really interesting.

Writing: More magazine columns

I've been remiss at posting news of my recent magazine columns.

C Vu issue 27.2 carried a column entitled Wallowing in Filth, about how to deal with messy code. C Vu 27.3's column was called Coding Dinosaurs, and discussed how to avoid become an extinct coder.

Speaking: CodeConf 2015

I'll be giving the closing keynote at GitHub's CodeConf 2015 in Nashville this month.

Find out more from the conference's website here: http://codeconf.com.

The talk is called Becoming a Better Programmer.

Interview: Fog Creek (Going Beyond Code to Become A Better Programmer)

I recently did a short interview with the guys at Fog Creek on the subject Becoming a Better Programmer. You can view it here.

It's a heroic editing effort! Between unreliable network connections and probably a 40 minute conversion they've heroically cut it down to ten minutes, and made me look rather like Max Headroom.

There's been lots of great feedback about this, so I'm glad it's inspiring people.

Speaking: ACCU 2015

I'm pleased to announce that I'll be delivering the opening keynote at the awesome ACCU 2015 developer conference in Bristol this April. The talk is called "Becoming a Better Programmer" (it's no coincidence that this is the same title as my new book and my magazine column).

I'm really looking forward to it. I think it'll be great fun and, hopefully, really useful.

The session synopsis is:

You've come this conference to improve your skills. You're here to learn: to learn new technologies, to learn new techniques, and to fuel your passion by meeting like-minded people. 

Becoming a better programmer means more than just learning new technologies. It means more than practising techniques and idioms. It's about more than passion and attitude. It's the combination of all these things. That's what this session will look at. 

Pete Goodliffe, author of the new book Becoming a Better Programmer, unpacks important mindsets and techniques that will help you improve as a programmer.
You'll discover specific tools that will help you review your current skillset, and you'll learn techniques to help you “become a better programmer”.

More info about my session is available here.

Writing: Coders Causing Conflict

My latest Becoming a Better Programmer column is published in the March issue of C Vu magazine (27.1). It's called Coders Causing Conflict and investigates how "conflict" can be a driving force for good in software development. It's quite an interesting topic, and one worth thinking about.

I realise that I failed to announce my previous few C Vu columns here. So, as a recap:

• In January (C Vu 26.6) I published Advice for the Young at Heart, considering how to give career advice to new programmers.
• In November 2014 (C Vu 26.5) I published Playing by the Rules which looks at developing "tribal rules" for your development team to help it work most effectively.

C Vu is a magazine produced by the ACCU - an excellent organisation for programmers. It has a great community, great publications, and an awesome conference. Check it out.

Writing: Becoming a Better Programmer

It's finally here!

My new book, Becoming a Better Programmer, is fully edited, laid out, and is now available as a final product for your reading pleasure, published by O'Reilly. You can purchase it in printed form or as a digital version for your e-reader of choice.

Find out more about the book from the O'Reilly product page. You can view the full table of contents there. Or head over to Amazon to purchase. If you are a Safari subscriber, you can read it here. Grab your iBook here.

The cover image is a flying fish. I'll leave it to your imagination to work out the significance.

It's great to finally see this labour of love come to fruition, and I do hope that stands as a useful resource for programmers today.

One of my favourite parts of the book is a family in-joke in the "advance praise" at the front. Nestled amongst the luminaries and expert programmers who graciously contributed their honest thoughts on the book is another very honest opinion:

Writing: Testing Times

My latest Becoming a Better Programmer column is published in the September issue of C Vu magazine (26.4). It called Testing Times and surveys the world of developer testing, covering the what, why, and how of programmer-driven testing. We look at feedback loops, TDD, unit testing, integration testing, system testing and more.

C Vu is a magazine produced by the ACCU - an excellent organisation for programmers. It has a great community, great publications, and an awesome conference. Check it out.

Meanwhile, my book: Becoming a Better Programmer, is nearing print. It's gone through tech review, copy edit, and layout is almost complete. You can still access the early release at http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920033929.do.

Writing: Nothing is Set in Stone

My latest Becoming a Better Programmer column is published in the July issue of CVu magazine (26.3). It called Nothing is Set in Stone. It talks about the soft nature of software, and how to make fearless changes.

Writing: Becoming a Better Programmer

I am delighted to announce that I have signed a contract to publish my latest book, Becoming a Better Programmer with the excellent folks at O'Reilly.

You can find out more about the book from it's catalogue page at http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920033929.do.

We have now made an early access version available with a number of the chapters. It's already looking excellent, and I can't wait to get the final version out.

Speaking: Words in Code

The slides from my ACCU 2014 talk, Words in Code, are available on SlideShare, from http://www.slideshare.net/petegoodliffe/words-in-code.

Here's the synopsis:

As software developers we do not just write code. We write many, many words too.

We write documentation, comments, manuals, specifications, technical articles, wiki documentation, and more. Maybe even magazine articles and books.

This talk discusses some practicalities of writing well, both stylistically and practically. We'll talk about prose, but also about the right "geek" way of writing, the storage formats, toolchains, and the storage of our words.

We'll cover:
- writing style
- what's appropriate: what to write what not to write
- keeping track: "source control" for words
- toolchains: what toolsets to use to write and prepare output
- markup languages vs "wysiwyg" tools
- sharing your words with non-geeks

At the end of this talk, you'll have a good idea how to put together an example "document toolchain" taking source-controlled words in a humane markup style, and creating high-quality HTML, PDF (fully styled, print-ready) ePub and Kindle output, as well as Word-friendly versions.

New Book: Becoming a Better Programmer

After many years of gestation my latest book is available for purchase as an early-access pre-release.

Called Becoming a Better Programmer, it is a handbook for people who are about code.

This early access edition already contains 14 chapters, and there are many more coming. There is a free "sample" version available so you get a taster of what you'll be purchasing.

As a pre-release, it's available at an introductory price. The price will go steadily upwards as the book nears completion. Buy now to enjoy the best value! (That's the sales pitch - I suck at that kind of thing.)

Get it from gum.co/becomingbetter. Join the book discussion here: moot.it/becomingbetter.

It would genuinely love to hear any feedback, praise or criticism that will help improve the book. Suggestions for topics to cover are also of real interest.

My honest hope is that this book does just what it says on the cover: helps many developers improve their skills, to become more productive programmers.

Buy it now!

Speaking: Words in Code (ACCU 2014)

I'll be speaking at this year's excellent ACCU Conference 2014.

This year my talk is: Words in Code, a technical (and not so technical) appraisal of how developers write. It's a practical distillation of my fourteen years as a magazine columnist, multiple book projects, and more.

Come and enjoy it on Thursday 10th April at 10am. The conference's earlybird booking deadline is February the 14th. ACCU is one of the highlights of my developer year - it's a truly excellent conference. If you've not considered going, check it out!

The full synopsis is available on the session page:

As software developers we do not just write code. We write many, many words too.
We write documentation, comments, manuals, specifications, technical articles, wiki documentation, and more. Maybe even magazine articles and books.
This talk discusses some practicalities of writing well, both stylistically and practically. We'll talk about prose, but also about the right "geek" way of writing, the storage formats, toolchains, and the storage of our words.
We'll cover:

• writing style
• what's appropriate: what to write what not to write
• keeping track: "source control" for words
• toolchains: what toolsets to use to write and prepare output
• markup languages vs "wysiwyg" tools
• sharing your words with non-geeks

At the end of this talk, you'll have a good idea how to put together an example "document toolchain" taking source-controlled words in a humane markup style, and creating high-quality HTML, PDF (fully styled, print-ready) ePub and Kindle output, as well as Word-friendly versions.

Writing: The Ethical Programmer (Part 2)

My latest Becoming a Better Programmer column was published in the November CVu (25.5). It's the second part of my mini-series on The Ethical Programmer.

This instalment deals with our attitudes towards other people, and finally formulates our own Hippocodic Oath; the programmer's equivalent of the Hippocratic Oath.

Writing: The Ethical Programmer

The latest C Vu magazine from ACCU is out now. It contains my latest Becoming a Better Programer column. This month it's called The Ethical Programmer; the first instalment of a two-part series on ethics and the modern programmer. Gripping stuff.

This month, I look at our attitudes, at legal issues, and discuss software licenses.

To make the world a better place, you can enjoy a picture of some old rope, and a chicken. I also throw in some bad puns.