Soft Skills

The Software Developer's Life Manual

By: John Sonmez

Narrated by: John Sonmez

Mediocre to Great. Become the Best Software Developer You Can Be - Level Up Your Income, Relationships, Health, and Mindset by Mastering Soft Skills.

Success isn’t a clear road for software developers. There’s too much information, and it can feel overwhelming. Many developers get stuck and have no idea what to do next.

Soft Skills aims to solve this. To give you a clear path with actionable steps for your career (and life). So you can get back to what you enjoy doing...solving unique puzzles and fun problems.

Most books talk about how to improve your career. Or how to pass interview questions.

But have you ever read a book that tells you how to become the best software developer you can be? Not with technical skills but in every aspect of your life?

Well, I’ve taken the wrong paths. I’ve taken the right paths and some I’m not so sure about.

I haven’t had much guidance in my software development journey. I've never felt like there was someone who had a simple step-by-step roadmap I could follow.

I’ve never felt like there was someone who could show me how to be the most successful software developer I could be.... Not in just writing code - but in life in general.

This is why I wrote this book. To make your software development journey a success - Soft Skills will get you there quickly.... This isn’t your typical book filled with untested theories. It’s all based on proven timeless principles and my personal experience.

Notice how many developers get stuck in dead-end jobs, but others reach the top with no effort? Their secret? This book answers that question.

It’s how I ended up “retired” at 33.

If you're a software developer and you want to go from decent to great...this book is for you.

It’s about getting to success. It’s about the habits and strategies, procedures and mindsets, and tricks and hacks that you can use to push yourself ever closer to success. These are the things this book talks about, and can teach you.

©2021 Simple Programmer LLC (P)2021 Simple Programmer LLC

Definitely worth the purchase.

This new edition of the book is amazing. It's similar to the content in the complete software developer's career guide but yet different.

It was a joy listening to this book

If I only read this book 30 years ago ... Will try to convince my son to listen it too.

Laid out Easy for the Busy Listener

John covers a wide range of topics for balancing life and career, and they're anecdotally great and sincere. They're short, well written, filled with straightforward advice. Pointedly, I really enjoyed his style of writing because he wasted no time giving you what you needed to understand for that particular chapter. There really is a lot of good stuff here, and many of messages left a long-lasting impression. Although it is more targeted towards Software Developers, I do think others outside this field will benefit significantly from listening to the Finance and Mindset sections.

Narration is a little Janky, content is good

Sometimes Sonmez reads like he's never seen the text before. The way he stumbles through the text is frustrating to listen to in a produced audio.

Fan for life

I don’t usually leave reviews, but this book is a game changer. I’d been frustrated with recent reads feeling superficial, but this one was the exact opposite. I bought it to improve my soft skills as a software engineer, and it delivered fresh perspectives on everything from code development and personal health to finance, brand management, and stoic philosophy.

I discovered that I’d actually been using what I called the Pomodoro Technique without knowing its name, but learning about its structure in detail helped me refine my focus and use it even more effectively. I feel more confident and productive and just wish I had more hours in the day to keep building on this momentum.

As a self-admitted Audible credit hoarder, I already had many of the recommended reads from this book in my library—books suggested by past professors and respected colleagues. Seeing them endorsed here gave me the extra push to finally give them a real shot.

Whether it’s property investing, honing my routines, or staying healthy (I recently lost 88 pounds through running and good habits), this book aligns closely with what’s been driving my success. Now I just need to find these meatballs!

Too much self-promotion, not recommend!

I learned a bit from this book, but much of it felt like self-promotion. The author frequently refers to his website, which I found annoying and distracting. I bought the book to gain insight into a particular subject, not to be sold additional products. For this reason, I would not recommend this book.

Too many ads !

This book contains so much advertasing about other products the author has created, that it's hard to listen at some moments. Also, it deviates so much from the soft skills topic, not saying that the content is not valuable, but it is not the expectation that I had for it