…about unit testing (p. 13):
Am I suggesting 100% test coverage? No, I’m not suggesting it. I’m demanding it. […] You only write code because you expect it to get executed. If you expect it to get executed, you ought to know that it works. The only way to know this is to test it.
…about work ethic (p. 16):
It is not your employer’s responsibility to train you, or to send you to conferences, or to buy you books. […]
You should plan on working 60 hours per week. The first 40 are for your employer. The remaining 20 are for you. During this remaining 20 hours you should be reading, practicing, learning, and otherwise enhancing your career.
…about “saying no” vs. “promising to try” (p. 33)
If you are not holding back some energy in reserve […] and if you are reasonably confident in your original estimate, then promising to try is fundamentally dishonest. You are lying. And you are probably doing it to save face and to avoid a confrontation.
…about “The Zone” (p.62):
Avoid the Zone. This state of consciousness is not really hyper-productive and is certainly not infallible. It’s really just a mild meditative state in which certain rational faculties are diminished in favor of a sense of speed.
…about working overtime (p.72):
You are not likely to get 20% more work done by working 20% more hours. […]
Therefore you should not agree to work overtime unless (1) you can personally afford it, (2) it is short term, two weeks or less, and (3) your boss has a fall-back plan in case the overtime effort fails.
...about GUI testing (p. 110):
Testing through the GUI is always problematic unless you are testing just the GUI. [...]
Keep the GUI tests to a minimum. They are fragile, because the GUI is volatile. The more GUI tests you have the less likely you are to keep them.
…about teamwork (p.165):
Perhaps you belief that you work better when you work alone. That may be true, but it doesn't mean that the team works better when you work alone.