Book Review: My Job Went to India (And All I Got Was This Lousy Book)

While the title and the cover set it apart (unfortunately not it a good way), start reading the book and you'll immediately recognize it as a Pragmatic Bookshelf production. Their books are consistently readable, commendably short and full of key distinctions that'll help as you develop your career in an increasingly Flat world.

I sometimes wonder if some of the enthusiasm of Ruby aficionados comes from the refreshing style of the Pickaxe book. It reminds us that programmers don't have to be ponderous writers and that technical books benefit from economy of expression as much as code does. After reading too many Visual Basic and Java books whose authors must have been paid by the page, I find it enjoyable to read books that distill key distinctions for people who'd rather be coding than reading.

"My Job" is no exception. From choosing languages to learn to maximizing your worth and from self marketing to taking advantage of the outsourcing trend, this book provides lots of great advice for developers who want to build a career in a world where you're only ever one feasibility study away from the next pink slip. Whether you are just starting out or already have a stellar reputation, I'd challenge anyone to read the book and get no benefit from any of the "Act on it" sections at the end of the chapters. I've been running my own business for fifteen years and doubt I'd ever take a job, but I still highlighted a number of the chapters and have added a number of tasks to my running to do lists for the rest of the week after reading the book. From mentoring, to code Katas, from mining open source projects for gems of style to having a personal daily to do list, it nailed the key practices that help you to become a "rock star" developer. You should definitely check it out.