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Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity

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Manufacturer: Apress Average Customer Rating: Average rating of 4.5/5Average rating of 4.5/5Average rating of 4.5/5Average rating of 4.5/5Average rating of 4.5/5

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Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity

Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 005.1
EAN: 9781590593899
ISBN: 1590593898
Label: Apress
Manufacturer: Apress
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 362
Publication Date: 2004-08-02
Publisher: Apress
Studio: Apress
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Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: Amazing!!
Comment: One of the best Software Engineering book I've ever read.
Funny, amaizingly educational, enjoyable.
Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: Survives the test of time
Comment: In a domain where 6 months is a lifetime, this book has survived the test of time remarkably well. Joel brings to bear his experience as a programmer, program manager and software company CEO in this series of articles on the software development business.

The book rambles through topics ranging from strategy to programming to project management. The strategy and project management topics are as fresh and applicable today as when they were written. The programing technology topics are relevant, but take some abstracting - "Knowing how to dig down into the details" has different details today than when the essays were originally written.

Even if you don't agree with 100% of what Joel says, the book should be included in the reading list of most programmers, program managers and software company executives.
Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: Lots of interesting thoughts
Comment:
Joel on Software is a collection of Joels blog posts. There are maybe 40 posts and the book is about 350 pages. Making all posts independent makes it easy to pick up the book every now and then, read one, and move on.

Joel has an opinion on everything and a fairly strong one. He is an excellent writer and is able to convey his opinion often in a humorous way. I very often completely disagree with his opinion, but that did not make the book any less valuable. He writes his opinion and clarifies the argumentation. He writes it in such a way that I find it worth reading.

There are too many posts to summarize. Some of the really great ones are, "the joel test" which he explains how you can be a better programming. "Daily builds are your friends" in which he covers the importance of daily builds. "The law of the leaky abstractions" is a true classic explaining that our industry keeps abstracting but that non of these abstractions is absolute so therefore the total amount of knowledge a person needs to know will increase. "Two stories" which describes the difference between two companies in their culture. And it goes on and on.

I really recommend to get Joel on Software (or his new More Joel on Software) and just, every now and then, read one of the posts and reflect about his opinion. Great work.
Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: Outstanding Essays On Software Development
Comment: Sometimes blunt, yet always pragmatic, Joel's writing is crisp and to the point. It should be required reading for IT managers and developers building software apps. The Joel Test has also become the de facto litmus test used by programmers to rate software organizations.
Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: Considerable wisdom, occasionally dated
Comment: Joel Spolsky's collected essays and blog entries mostly remain fresh enough even after several years (some go back to 2000 and 2001). Many of the good ideas he presents are still valid because they are still true and they remain challenges for many people and organizations today.

The more dated parts relate more to specific technology, such as COM and early browser versions. That's usually ok, as the specific references serve more as hooks for making a point. Plus, agile methodologies have made significant progress since Spolsky published. He gets a few digs in against Extreme Programming. I was unfamiliar with his blog before this book, and one thing nice is that his insight and spunkiness make we want to sample his blog going forward.

I especially agree with Spolsky on most of his "Joel's test", the need for modest specs (disagree on use of humor in specs), daily builds, fine-grained scheduling, the need to understand fundamentals of what's going on in your system, independent testers, scalability and understanding your market. That's a pretty good collection of topics.

Sorry, but at this point the book made for a good read from the library, as opposed to a purchase.
  
Editorial Reviews:
Spolsky is knowledgeable, funny and free of unnecessary religious fervor. Joel on Software is a must-read. ...having (Joel on Software) in one place, edited, with an index, is probably the best twenty-five dollars you'll spend this year.

— Greg Wilson, Dr. (Joel Spolsky's) genuine desire to make the software world a better place keeps us coming back for more.

— Bruce Hadley, softwareCEO. This book will challenge, encourage, upset, and entertain you. Spolsky knows his stuff, and he's got the war wounds to prove it. This book is worth the price of admission...

— Tom Duff, Duffbert's Random Musings

An entertaining oportunity to get to know one of today's most influential developer/authors.Spolsky based these observations on years of personal experience.

The result just a handful of years later? Spolsky's technical knowledge, caustic wit, and extraordinary writing skills have earned him status as a programming guru! His blog has become renowned throughout the programming world&emdash;now linked to more than six hundred websites and translated into over thirty languages.

Joel on Software covers every conceivable aspect of software programming&emdash;from the best way to write code, to the best way to design an office in which to write code! All programmers, all people who want to enhance their knowledge of programmers, and all who are trying to manage programmers will surely relate to Joel's musings.
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