The Creative Programmer

Book excerpt: Programming is a creative act. These techniques will help you maximize the power of creativity to improve your software and your satisfaction in creating it. In The Creative Programmer you’ll discover: The seven dimensions of creativity in software engineering The scientific understanding of creativity and how it translates to programming Actionable advice and thinking exercises that will make you a better programmer Innovative communication skills for working more efficiently on a team Creative problem-solving techniques for tackling complex challenges In The Creative Programmer you’ll learn the processes and habits of highly creative individuals and discover how you can build creativity into your programming practice. This fascinating new book introduces the seven domains of creative problem solving and teaches practical techniques that apply those principles to software development. Hand-drawn illustrations, reflective thought experiments, and brain-tickling example problems help you get your creative juices flowing—you’ll even be able to track your progress against a scientifically validated Creative Programming Problem Solving Test. Before you know it, you’ll be thinking up new and novel ways to tackle the big challenges of your projects. Foreword by Dr. Felienne Hermans. About the Technology Like composing music, starting a business, or designing a marketing campaign, programming is a creative activity. And just like technical skills, creativity can be learned and improved with practice! This thought-provoking book details practical methods to turn creativity into more effective problem solving, higher productivity, and better software. About the Book The Creative Programmer explores seven dimensions of creativity in software engineering—technical knowledge, collaboration, constraints, critical thinking, curiosity, a creative state of mind, and creative techniques. As you read, you’ll apply insights about creativity from other disciplines to the challenges of software development. Numerous relevant examples and exercises drive each lesson home. You’ll especially enjoy the unique Creative Programming Problem Solving Test that helps you assess how creative you’ve been with a programming task. What’s Inside The scientific understanding of creativity and how it translates to programming Advice and exercises that will help you become a creative programmer Innovative communication skills for working more efficiently on a team Creative problem-solving techniques for tackling complex challenges About the Reader For programmers of all skill levels. About the Author Wouter Groeneveld is a software engineer and computer science education researcher at KU Leuven, where he researches the importance of creativity in software engineering. Table of Contents: 1 The creative road ahead 2 Technical knowledge 3 Communication 4 Constraints 5 Critical thinking 6 Curiosity 7 Creative state of mind 8 Creative techniques 9 Final thoughts on creativity