The Zen Programmer

by Christian Grobmeier

This book will teach you there are more than just emails, phonecalls, and urgent issues. What Zen teachers told us hundreds of years ago is still true we can say "No" and we have our lives in our own hands. Zen is not only for famous corporate leaders like Steve Jobs. It is for you. It is not for weekends. You can practice Zen at any time, even now, right this second.

Table Of

IntroductionOn BuddhismWhy Zen Programming?Kizen And Other PracticesZen Is About YouNo EgoZen Is Hard WorkThe Other People

Genres: Programming

Kindle Edition

First published November 12, 2013

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look up "Ten Rules of a Zen Programmer" for a crash course for this book. That article was the precursor to this. Consider it carefully--don't speed read through it; there's a lot of subtleties you'll miss otherwise. After that, pick up this book.

The Zen Programmer isn't a trendy "life-hacker" book, and it's not filled with productivity secrets or quick tips to help programmers. It is a guidebook for programmers' lives. I wish I could express the importance of this. It remains true to the word Zen, has a small taste of eastern philosophy and history mixed in, and it was easy to pick up and read.

The Zen programmer helps removes the "rat race" element from life. To me, that means slowing down and reconsidering my priorities. It means looking at how much care I put into the stuff I create things, or even how I do mundane things like the chores. It helped me do my work better and reduced my stress. It made me less mad at external factors, and pulled me out of a really bad burnout. This will not just impact your work but your home life too. Everything trickles down, so if you can improve your work life, your family, friends, & significant others will notice.

I've been reading this book in the morning before I begin working and it's a huge boon to my mood and how I handle situations. As an Engineer, this is completely indispensable. I will read it again for the very same reason.

[Filip Petkovski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book since I could easily connect to many of the author's stories. The author describes his way of implementing Zen in real life. This makes the book quite personal so it is up to you what you will get out of it.

[Héctor Iván Patricio Moreno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excelente lectura para las personas que se dedican a la parte técnica de los proyectos de software en cualquier área. Habla de principios fundamentales que uno puede encontrar en algunas filosofías orientales pero haciendo un análisis más profundo de esos principios se nota que son más amplios o que se pueden encontrar en las raíces mismas de la razón.
Lo que más me dejó marcado es la frase "Tú no importas" y algo parecido a "Tú no eres especial".
Los pensamientos derivados de no hacer caso a estos dos principios son los que provocan el mayor número de riñas, de disgustos y amargura tanto en la vida personal como en los proyectos profesionales.
También el recordatorio de llevar una vida lo más sencilla y libre de ambiciones malsanas posible es un excelente recordatorio.
Todos los principios mencionados van de la mano con la raíz de las enseñanzas cristianas, pero en contra de la sabiduría pupular occidental en una sociedad consumista como la que vivimos.
La traducción es un poco rara pero decente y entendible.

[Piotr Kalinowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read that I treated myself as a reminder and a personal anecdote. It is written from the perspective of such anecdote as well in the sense that the author humbly does not assume to have all or any answers to your problems. He used to be in a difficult place, and this is what helped him. Perhaps you will find it useful as well.

The overall structure is well thought out, so that you can come without knowing anything about Zen or Buddhism, and get a minimal introduction to some of their aspects. Since the book does not aim to be a complete manual on Zen philosophy, expect to go elsewhere afterwards to read up on the details if you want, but at least the rest, including the personal anecdote part, will make sense.

The language is a bit awkward at places, but not in a way that was particularly distracting.

[Erick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was transformative for me, it has influenced core aspects of my life.

It creates a bridge between Software Development, something you may be familiar with. And Zen practice. This bridge is full of wonderful analogies that are frankly enlightening. I read it last year, since then I've read more books on the subject. Recently I re-read it, and I feel that it has depths I haven't completely grasped yet. I plan to read it once again in a year.

I cannot recommend it enough, as a gentle, yet surprisingly deep introduction to Zen practice, from the view of a Software Developer.

[Jaroslav Holan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first third of the book is not very interesting. It is about Buddhism and Zen in general. I think there are better books about this topic. But next part of the book is great. It is about connection between Zen and software development. The best part (that should be set in stone) is about Ten rules of a Zen programmer. So, I recommend to read this book backwards :-)

[Nor Oh · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the language is at times harder to read, the book offers a view on how to integrate the practice of Buddhism well into programming job when once I thought they were two opposite world that could not mix. I recommend this book for people who are serious in both Buddhist practice and their programming career.

[Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't stop recommending this book

[Robert Richter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book has a few good points that are spread on too many pages. I hesitated between two and three stars.

[Tomáš · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting more about "zen programming" then "zen for programmers", but that's my fault. The best thing about this book is author's personal and intimate confession and "smart ideas" found elsewhere. It's inspiring and encouraging reading.

[Martin Trejo · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting way of integrate basic elements of zen philosophy into a developer's life. I really liked it