There’s something new here at The Pragmatic Programmers—our new series of books, Pragmatic Life.

Because life doesn’t stop at the office door.

About This Series

We have the same goals for the Pragmatic Life series that we do for our Pragmatic Bookshelf series: to make developers’ lives easier. But now we’re looking at more than just your day job.

These books will make your life better. All different aspects of your life—not just work, not just hobbies, not just family topics. These books are created by authors who respect you and want to take you on a journey, to a place where they’ve been themselves, and can help you get there, too.

The first book in this new series is Chad Fowler’s The Passionate Programmer. Next up will be Andy Lester’s How to Land the Tech Job You Love.

Also, this week we feature an interview with Chad Fowler on our podcast. Now available at pragprog.com/podcasts and on iTunes.

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The Passionate Programmer

The book that started it all for us, The Pragmatic Programmer, had the underlying theme that you need to take responsibility for your own professional development. You need to become more productive with the tools you use. You need to code smarter and automate those parts of your work day where it makes sense. You need to learn new languages, techniques, and methodologies. You need to read new books and expand your mind and your horizons.

So what about your career? You can’t lay low hiding out in your cubicle hoping no one notices you when it’s time for the next cutback. You need to proactively decide what you want your career to be and figure out how to get there—where the destination will shift along the way.

Chad Fowler’s book, The Passionate Programmer helps you stand up and take charge. As he says in the introduction, this book is not advice on how “to maintain the level of mediocrity required not to get fired. It’s about being awesome. It’s about winning. You don’t win a race by trying not to lose. And you don’t win at life by trying to not suck.”

The Passionate Programmer is actually the second edition of Chad’s book My Job Went to India. You’ll find that the focus has shifted a bit and there is a great deal of additional content including guest essays. The new title better communicates the contents and intent of this book. And besides, any time the first edition got reviewed or blogged, it wouldn’t take long for the conversation to devolve into an argument over outsourcing—and that’s not what this book is about at all. It’s not about “them,” it’s about you.

We often hear from people who are buying a second or third copy of this book because they’ve lent their copy to a coworker who has kept it or lent it to someone else.

Don’t let the stock market, the government, or the competition define your career. Take charge of your own career today. Right now.

Thanks for your continued support,

Dave & Andy
www.PragProg.com