A Philosophy of Software Design

By John K. Ousterhout,

Book cover of A Philosophy of Software Design

Book description

This book addresses the topic of software design: how to decompose complex software systems into modules (such as classes and methods) that can be implemented relatively independently. The book first introduces the fundamental problem in software design, which is managing complexity. It then discusses philosophical issues about how to approach…

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Why read it?

1 author picked A Philosophy of Software Design as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I knew how to code when I finished school, or at least I thought I did. What I didn’t know was how to think about programs and how to structure the bigger picture. Over time and with practice, I learned how to think about design, but the journey was fraught and painful. I wish I had this book when I started out.

Coming to the book later in my career, I may have intuitively known a lot of what Ousterhout covers, but I’ve never seen it put so elegantly. I found myself nodding along and now often point coders at…

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