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Teaching Experience?

Have you ever bought a book that supposedly will teach you "experiences of the masters"?

I have. From Code Complete to Design Patterns to The Mythical Man-Month to The Pragmatic Programmer.

I don't think they succeeded. It's true that they contain valuable information. But, at least for me, I become more and more appreciative of what they have to say as I gained my own experience.

After all, it won't be called experience if you can get it by reading books.


A computer is like a violin. You can imagine a novice trying first a phonograph and then a violin. The latter, he says, sounds terrible. ...

---Marvin Minsky, quoted in SICP

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