I began reading this book after seeing a LinkedIn post suggesting a series of software engineering books if read could add five years of experience to your career. Although I initially started with System Design Interview Volume I by Alex Xu, I would highly recommend starting with this book instead. It focuses heavily on coding, which may not delve into the intricate details of system design but is incredibly valuable for enhancing your day-to-day practice.

One of the book's standout features is its coverage of Test-Driven Development (TDD) and error handling. If you have a basic understanding of Java, you'll find the concepts easy to grasp, and even if you don't, the explanations are clear enough to make learning accessible over time.

I read this book during my final semester of college. I joined an MNC as a full-time software engineer three months ago, where I primarily code in Python. Before this, I had experience with TypeScript, Golang, and C++. While reading the book, I would frequently explore (on the internet) how to adapt its concepts into JavaScript, particularly TypeScript. This approach took time, but it greatly helped me understand and apply the concepts effectively. This approach took time, but it greatly helped me understand and apply the concepts.

The book also serves as an excellent precursor to another great work by Uncle Bob, Clean Architecture. Reading this book beforehand gave me a solid foundation that made Clean Architecture easier to understand. The practices outlined in this book have not only helped me in my daily work but also in my side open source projects which I rebuilt using the principles by Uncle Bob.