Chapter 7
Kaizen

Kaizen is a Japanese term for continuous improvement. No matter your level of programming mastery, you can always do better. Obvious, perhaps, but I’ve met programmers who appeared to peak about five to ten years into their career and then…just stick there.

Continuous improvement and mastery of our trade takes some obvious forms: learning a new programming language, broadening your skills in a new area of computing, or building your chops by contributing to an open source project. These are all great ways to challenge yourself and keep fresh. However, think of kaizen in broader terms.

By mastery, I’m not just referring to technologies. There are programmers who mastered C decades ago and have been writing system software ever since. Are they stagnant? Not necessarily—we continue to see tremendous feats of engineering in operating systems. C itself may not be new and shiny, but it’s still a foundational language used to build new and shiny stuff.

Further, by improvement, I don’t just mean learning things at an intellectual level. Your attitude toward your work dramatically affects your productivity and the quality of the code you write. Your interactions with other people likewise affect your professional development and ability to deliver products. These are areas you can improve, even though they deal with the messy, irrational, and emotional aspects of life.

In our final section of the book, we look forward. You’re already improving—kaizen is about keeping that ball rolling.

• We start on a tip with attitude: Tip 31, ​Mind Your Head ​ argues the “glass half-full” point of view. You may choose the “Glass is twice as large as it needs to be” perspective if you prefer.

• Just when you thought you could take a break from the books, Tip 32, ​Never Stop Learning​ looks at ways to continue honing your skills.

• Tip 33, ​Find Your Place​ closes our book with some future opportunities for the career programmer.