Joen on software

Most of the advice is valid some of it is not. Joel does not play well with mumbo-jumbo. Illustrative software development real stories told with a fine sense of humor. Joel seems to be a great developer and software manager, which is hard to find. Every developer and manager should read it. Feb 26, Tiago rated it really liked it. More than a collection of software engineering thoughts, this book describes a collection of experiences from several years of working in software engineering companies, starting as intern at Microsoft Excel's team, to his own company Fog Creek.

Reading it in , 14 years after it was first published, it's still valuable as it was back then, as most of the lessons still apply some of them I can relate with my own experience as software engineering.

There's a lot to learn from these lessons an More than a collection of software engineering thoughts, this book describes a collection of experiences from several years of working in software engineering companies, starting as intern at Microsoft Excel's team, to his own company Fog Creek.

There's a lot to learn from these lessons and Joel provides lots of interesting links and book references, making it a must read for young software engineers and a great read for others. Notes to self: it's noticeable that Joel has read many many books about software engineering technical and non-technical. Evidence was his statement that he read all self-published books from MS employees. It would be interesting to learn his thoughts now about some of the topics he wrote e.

Aug 24, Ant rated it really liked it. Great book, a bit dated now but interesting to see how some of his ideas went with regards to Microsoft's business directions.

Totally love his style and he's obviously a smart cookie who knows his stuff both as a programmer and a project manager. His wit is very engaging and turns even the driest discussions about API's into something of a comedy.

Spolsky talks from first hand experience, he's no theoretician which ironically allows him room to theorize quite accurately given the retrospective v Great book, a bit dated now but interesting to see how some of his ideas went with regards to Microsoft's business directions.

Spolsky talks from first hand experience, he's no theoretician which ironically allows him room to theorize quite accurately given the retrospective view this book now gives on the whole software industry. One of the best parts about this book is that it makes one, as a developer, feel that what project managers are constantly telling you It's late, you're slow, your estimates are unrealistically large is somewhat of a universal pain felt by even the best of us.

Despite his plethora of knowledge, wisdom on the subjects he speaks about and intellect, he always comes across as humble and one who perhaps learnt the hard way, like us. It's no longer , but Joel on Software is still as relevant as it was back then. Encouraging and realistic at the same time. A friend to read. Apr 13, Charlie Harrington rated it it was amazing Shelves: Rewind to the turn of the millennium, when Windows programming ruled the world, the dotcoms were doomed, and managing large software projects still suffered from the same problems as they did back at IBM during the Mythical Man-Month era as they still do now.

Hyperbolic and hilarious, Joel tears apart the tropes and renders his own creed for programming, managing, and successfully making things with other people on computers. The hint of web programming at the end of the book is a prescient gl Rewind to the turn of the millennium, when Windows programming ruled the world, the dotcoms were doomed, and managing large software projects still suffered from the same problems as they did back at IBM during the Mythical Man-Month era as they still do now.

Jan 06, Anderson rated it liked it. This was probably a very good book when it was first released but, with the benefit of being almost a decade in the future, you can see that the predictions made in the book were basically a toss-up: every other one turned out to be plain wrong.

It's a good example of why we should take predictions with a grain of salt. It's interesting to read about some of the issues at the time and some of the arguments joel made back then still make a lot of sense today, but overall it's become a historical This was probably a very good book when it was first released but, with the benefit of being almost a decade in the future, you can see that the predictions made in the book were basically a toss-up: every other one turned out to be plain wrong.

It's interesting to read about some of the issues at the time and some of the arguments joel made back then still make a lot of sense today, but overall it's become a historical artifact. Oct 28, Ramanan Balakrishnan rated it really liked it. Interesting to see how assertions from almost 20 years ago have turned out - most are still valid. Even more valuable are the cases where the predictions have turned out differently. Feb 18, Emad Mokhtar rated it it was amazing.

This book is an old one, but still has much information that can be applied nowadays. This book is focusing on many aspects from people side of software development, to the process side. Joel recommends Program Managers to read it but I can also recommend Software Developers o read it as well. Mar 04, Lindsay rated it liked it. A little bit outdated, a little bit annoying A good foundational book for programmers and project managers the capacity in which it was recommended to me.

Oct 07, Nate Stevens rated it really liked it Shelves: programming. A shockingly-still-relevant-to-development-in book from 16 years ago, Spolsky writes entertainingly but in a way that holds up in the more inclusive world of Lots of inspection of Microsoft here, which prompted me to buy Satya's biography. I enjoyed it, and read it fast. Most of it it's still relevant, the time passed since it was written helped me to focus on the more generic wisdom instead of being blinded by the technologies.

Apr 26, Hunan Rostomyan rated it really liked it Shelves: essays , business , programming. Interesting set of essays on all sorts of programming topics. Learned a ton. Jun 07, Nathan Feaver rated it really liked it.

The examples are somewhat outdated but the concepts are eternal. Aug 21, Alexander Borshak rated it really liked it. Not bad, worth to read.

Many interesting ideas. Nov 13, Patrick rated it it was amazing Shelves: project-management. A nice reorganization of many of Joel's blogposts and essays. Some of the details are a bit dated e. Ton of hilariously put unfulfilled predictions. Apr 02, Eddy rated it really liked it. Aug 10, Victor rated it really liked it. As per any technical book, some concepts are pretty dated. I love his strong stance of things and clear explanations. Sep 04, Dennis Geus rated it really liked it.

Readers also enjoyed. Goodreads is hiring! If you like books and love to build cool products, we may be looking for you. Learn more ». About Joel Spolsky. Joel Spolsky. Other books in the series. Joel On Software 2 books. Books by Joel Spolsky. You've already accomplished the first and very important part of the Goodreads Reading Challenge—signing up!

Just by joining, Read more Trivia About Joel on Software. No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now ». Quotes from Joel on Software. Do you use source control? Can you make a build in one step? Do you make daily builds? Do you have a bug database? Do you fix bugs before writing new code? Do you have an up-to-date schedule? Do you have a spec?

Do programmers have quiet working conditions? Do you use the best tools money can buy? Do you have testers? Do new candidates write code during their interview? Do you do hallway usability testing?

I think this kind of motivation is brain-dead. When I'm behind schedule, I feel doomed and depressed and unmotivated. When I'm working ahead of schedule, I'm cheerful and productive. The schedule is not the place to play psychological games. Welcome back. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. The entertainment industry has to maintain a straight face and tell you that Gigli or Battlefield Earth are every bit as valuable as Wedding Crashers or Star Wars or nobody will go see them.

Now, the reason the music recording industry wants different prices has nothing to do with making a premium on the best songs. What they really want is a system they can manipulate to send signals about what songs are worth, and thus what songs you should buy. And suddenly the music industry has a lot more leverage over their artists in negotiations: the kind of leverage they are used to having.

Their favorite kind of leverage. And Apple? Apple wants the signaling to come from what they promote on the front page of the iTunes Music Store. In the battle between Apple and the recording industry over who gets to manipulate what songs you buy, Apple like movie theaters is going to be in favor of fixed prices, while the recording industry is going to want variable prices. The Fog Creek Copilot team has launched monthly subscriptions.

This lets you remote control computers over the Internet whenever you need to without entering payment information each time. There are a variety of plans offering 0 — minutes per month.