Kathrin Passig is regarded as a master of the unorthodox perspective, and when she teams up with an experienced developer to write a programming book, one can expect great things. With expertise and wit, the two tackle the pitfalls, misjudgments, and misconceptions that particularly burden programming novices and hobby developers. This book is for anyone who suspects that a better programmer lies within them.

Although it may not be immediately obvious, programming has a lot to do with communication. Programming style, naming conventions, handling comments, or dealing with foreign code—conventions have often established themselves precisely where a language does not impose strict guidelines. Learn about the different traditions of various languages and discover how to navigate this uncertain terrain with relative safety.

Who hasn’t spent hours searching for a bug in their program, trying to figure out why something isn’t working as intended? There are many signs that can indicate where something is wrong in the code. Learn how to identify these rust spots, how to find errors through systematic debugging, and how to manage them permanently through testing.

Not every programming language is equally suited for every task. Data can be stored in various ways, and there are many development environments and version control systems. On a technical level, a multitude of decisions must be made, the consequences of which can be hard to grasp. No one can provide universally valid recommendations, but with the authors' insights and decision-making aids, you won't go wrong as you get started.