Quotes from David Thomas

The principles now planted in thy bosom will grow, and one day reach maturity; and in that maturity thou wilt find thy heaven or thy hell.

People find it easier to join an ongoing success. Show them a glimpse of the future and you'll get them to rally around.[7]

J'ai lentement déshabillé son apparence pour savoir qui elle était. (Dix-huit ans, p.143)

J'ai tenté d'être face à elle un homme fort conscient de ses faiblesses, un homme vêtu qui ne craint pas sa nudité, un homme droit qui connaît ses courbes et ses fractures. Tout ce chemin que j'ai fait pour la rencontrer m'a permis de me parcourir moi-même, c'est long de se parcourir.

Unselfish and noble actions are the most radiant pages in the biography of souls.

Ruthless and Continuous Testing Many developers test gently, subconsciously knowing where the code will break and avoiding the weak spots. Pragmatic Programmers are different. We are driven to find our bugs now, so we don't have to endure the shame of others finding our bugs later.

Finding an answer that happens to fit is not the same as the right answer.

Look for the important requirements, the ones that define the system. Look for the areas where you have doubts, and where you see the biggest risks. Then prioritize your development so that these are the first areas you code.

not just asking questions, having discussions, and taking notes, but asking questions and having discussions while you're actually coding.

Unselfish and noble acts are the most radiant epochs of the biography of souls.

Ne me retire pas l'idée, aussi incertaine soit-elle, que s'aventurer est toujours plus vivifiant que se contenir, que ce qui s'élance a plus de grâce que ce qui se ramasse. Un jour qui se lève, aussi merdique soit-il, même en novembre, même par temps de pluie, est toujours plus prometteur qu'un soir de juin qui a tout dit.

Cette vie que tu as réduite à des petits tracas, à de légers soucis qui occupent ton esprit étroit comme l'anneau que tu portes à ton annulaire gauche.

be strict in what you will accept before you begin, and promise as little as possible in return.

For routines you call, rely only on documented behavior. If you can't, for whatever reason, then document your assumption well.

Don't assume it, prove it.

At all levels, people operate with many assumptions in mind—but these assumptions are rarely documented and are often in conflict between different developers.

Always be aware of what you are doing.

When in doubt, it always pays to reduce scope.

Just tell yourself, "No broken windows.

All services offered by a module should be available through a uniform notation, which does not betray whether they are implemented through storage or through computation.

Don't try to refactor and add functionality at the same time.

Pragmatic Programmers get the job done, and do it well.

Happiness is action.

Delivering good software today is often better than perfect software tomorrow, so finish things and ship.