Review of 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 (Paperback)

There is a fair bit of hard-won wisdom here. It covers every aspect of the programming world, from praise of hardware, through product management and economics, back to testing and coding style, and on and on. There are a few real gems among these 45 essays (plus intro and appendix), untrammeled by the need for consistency. He's certainly unabashed about bucking current fashions, including all the silliness seen under the revival tent of the eXtremists.

At several points, Joel rails against the false economies of making code smaller and sniggers at the people to whom it matters so much, then (ch 39) he rails against the size of a Microsoft runtime support package. He also points out that antialiased fonts, other than things like headlines, are a bad idea. That was already common knowledge around DEC by about 1980, since the visibly blurred margins of characters led to eyestrain as the focussing muscles fruitlessly tried to find the edge. Modern display technology with far smaller pixel sizes seems to have reversed that decision, however, except possibly at the smallest character sizes - a blow-up of a screen capture will often show antialiasing on body text that looks quite good. If he came on a bit less strong to start with, these annoyances would be a lot less annying.

Joel's incredibly high opinion of Joel wore on me after a while. Despite all the good in this book, I had to drag myself through the last half of his pontifications, repetition, and tendency towards the absolute. If you're already a fan of his other writing, that might not bother you. For me, Joel, in his role as high priest in the cult of Joel, became tiresome. I'm sure he's a skilled developer and savvy business man, but I really don't think I'd enjoy meeting him.

//wiredweird

Product Description
Spolsky is knowledgeable, funny and free of unnecessary religious fervor. <i>Joel on Software</i> is a must-read....having (<i>Joel on Software</i>) in one place, edited, with an index, is probably the best twenty-five dollars you'll spend this year.</a></p></blockquote><p id="quoteAuthor">- Greg Wilson, Dr.(Joel Spolsky's) genuine desire to make the software world a better place keeps us coming back for more.</a></p></blockquote><p id="quoteAuthor">- 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...</a></p></blockquote><p id="quoteAuthor">- Tom Duff, Duffbert's Random Musings</p></div>

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

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. <p>

<i>Joel on Software </i> 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.

From the Publisher
Announcing a new book from Apress: Read Joel Spolsky's unique and humourous insights.

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