I recently dove into Chapter 2 of The Pragmatic Programmer and found some golden nuggets every developer should reflect on. Here’s a light recap of what stood out to me:
🔁 The Evils of Duplication
Repeating code is easy, but maintaining it becomes a nightmare. The classic DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) isn’t just style — it’s survival.
Each copy is a trap waiting to waste your future time.
🧲 Orthogonality
Components should be independent. If changing A breaks B, you're in trouble.
When parts of your system are too tightly coupled, every tweak becomes a bug party.
⏪ Reversibility
There's no perfect decision — but you can make them reversible. Use tools, patterns, and practices that allow you to change direction without burning everything down.
A good design gives you room to grow, not walls to crash into.
💥 Tracer Bullets
Test ideas quickly and cheaply. Fire “tracer bullets” to illuminate the path before fully committing.
Fail small. Learn fast.
🧪 Prototypes and Post-it Notes
Before coding the whole thing, simulate. It can be a sketch, sticky notes, or a quick mockup. The goal is to validate ideas early.
A bad idea killed early is better than great code thrown away.
💬 Domain Languages
Use language and abstractions that reflect the business domain. It bridges the gap between devs and non-devs.
Code that speaks the business's language is more valuable than one only the author understands.
📏 Estimating
Predicting the future is hard — but necessary. Estimating isn’t about being right, it’s about aligning expectations with your team and stakeholders.
A well-communicated guess is better than promising magic.
In the end...
Being pragmatic means thinking holistically, balancing clean code with clarity, and remembering that code is a tool — not the goal.
Code with purpose. Test with strategy. Deploy with confidence.
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