Last November, I did my own private PragProWriMo, writing every day that month to produce a non-fiction technology book:

And that's IT! 671 words today for a total of 46,611 words. Now what? Editing hell I guess :) #digwrimo #PragProWriMo

— ❺➠ David Copeland (@davetron5000) November 30, 2012

Between Dec 1, 2012 and today, I’ve been editing it, and it’s finally complete!

The Senior Software Engineer is a 200-page e-book on everything a developer needs to know to be a truly senior engineer…except for how program.

The book’s subtitle is “A Guide for Making the Most of Your Career” and that’s exactly what it is. I realized over the past few years that the best and most successful developers I’ve come across aren’t just good at writing code. They can communicate effectively with others. They can launch a greenfield project without incident. They can write documentation. They can lead others without becoming managers who have to give up coding.

In short, these developers prioritize the delivery of results above all else. They often (though not always) use software to deliver those results.

This is the subject of the book. It’s designed to get you thinking about the big picture, of which computer programs are only a small part. It’s a roadmap for advancing in your career without giving up writing code.

It’s also prescriptive. You’ll learn how to give a code review as well as receive one. You’ll learn how to keep organized while implementing complex features. You’ll learn how to create a convincing technical argument by understanding others’ priorities. You’ll learn how to interview potential team members, and then lead them to successful product delivery. Check out the website, where you’ll find a full table of contents as well as some excerpts.

The lessons in this book have taken me a long time to learn, and I still struggle every day with many of them. My hope is that if we all start thinking about this stuff earlier in our careers (at least as much as we think about the next great language or framework) we can do better work and make software better.

It’s available now for $25, in PDF, EPUB, MOBI, and Markdown. I hope you enjoy it.