Section 1.5. A Personal Tools Quiz

1.5. A Personal Tools Quiz

To make the ideas in this book seem more personal, try answering the following questions (honestly):

• Name the biggest mistake that you, personally, made in each of your last three projects. Program design doesn't count; tools and processes do.

• Name the biggest mistake you think someone else made in your last three projects.

• Imagine that you could totally replace just one software tool that you use daily. Which one would it be, and why?

• Which tool is so good that you would have to be seriously bribed to be persuaded to stop using it?

• Which part of producing software just seems to take much longer than it should? Do you feel that you really understand what goes on in that part?

Your answers should give you some good ideas about which parts of this book will particularly interest you. It was questions like these, and a lack of written guidance on addressing the issues raised by their answers, that made me want to write this book in the first place.