The 10 Rules of a Zen Programmer
On February 3rd 2012, I published a blog post. It was about what I have learned from Zen and how I use it in my daily work as a software developer. The name is The 10 rules of a Zen programmer. What happened then was beyond my imagination: 35.000 persons visited my blog on the first day. Tons of e-mails flooded my inbox and hundreds of Twitter tweets were sent.
I was surprised by the huge interest my visitors had in Zen. And after I answered every e-mail I got, I started to look at various places for more feedback on the Zen Programmer.
In a lot of cases, people liked it. In some other cases, I felt that some have misunderstood the intention of the blog post and even what Zen actually means. Of course, this is not surprising: Zen looks easy at first glance, but it is not. When you start to practice Zen, you'll find out how difficult it is.
The Zen Programmer Book
Therefore, I have decided to write a few more pages on the "Zen Programmer". Currently, I am planning the chapters of the book, but of course I would like to know if YOU are interested in it. If you are, please sign up for my mailing list. I will notify you once the book is out.
The author
Christian sold his first website back in 1998. Since then he worked as a (web) developer, a consultant, an architect, a manager, a tester and much more. He had many different customers: tiny companies, banks and huge merchants. He worked in open spaces together with 80 other people and alone in his home office. He met idiots, but also great people. And at a time when he worked 75 hours a week, he started with Zen practice. Since 2006, the way he worked has changed significantly. In addition to his work as a programmer, he is studying psychology at a German university. In this book you can read what he learned from the Zen buddhists about daily work - shaped into today’s world of a programmer.
Questions
What will the book cover?
I will write about all of the 10 rules in more detail and with examples. In addition, you'll learn about Karma Code, how you can work Zen in open office spaces and read about exercises you can do at your desk (or near to it). All this and more will be spiced up with old tales and sayings from Zen buddhism.
What will happen to YOU when you read the book?
As with every book: read, learn, change yourself. Or read and forget it. Nobody can know. But it could happen that it will change the way you think and you see your daily work in a different light.
Are you a Zen monk?
No. I practice Zen since 2006. This does not make me a priest or a monk. But I have tried to learn and use this knowledge in my daily work. You will learn from somebody who is still learning himself.
How will the book be published?
The book will be available as an e-book for your kindle and in print.
When will the book arrive?
I am currently planning the book and cannot give specific dates right now. If you want to stay in the loop, please subscribe to my Zen Programmer mailing list. Its only use is to inform people about the book, you'll not receive any other notifications.