More Joel on Software: Further Thoughts on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and ... or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity

Joel On Software #2

by Joel Spolsky

Joel, Apress, Blogs, and Blooks   …I was learning the hard way about how to be a publisher and probably spending way too much time looking at web sites and programming than I should have in response to that. Anyway, one day I came across this web site called , which was run by a guy with strong opinions and an unusual, clever writing style, along with a willingness to take on the conventional wisdom. In particular, he was writing this ongoing series about how bad most user interfaces were―mostly because programmers by and large knew, as Joel and I would say, using the same Yiddish–derived NYC vernacular that we both share, “bupkis” about what users really want. And I, like many, was hooked both by the series and the occasional random essay that Joel wrote. And then I had this I'm a publisher, I like reading his stuff, why not turn it into a book?…  Read the complete Foreword             ― Gary Cornell, Cofounder, Apress Since the release of the bestselling title Joel on Software in 2004, requests for a sequel have been relentless. So, we went back to the famed JoelonSoftware.com archives and pulled out a new batch of favorites, many of which have been downloaded over one million times. With Joel's newest book, More Joel on Software , you'll get an even better (not to mention updated) feast of Joel's opinions and impressions on software development, software design, running a software business, and so much more. This is a new selection of essays from the author's web site, Joel Spolsky started his weblog in March 2000 in order to offer his insights, based on years of experience, on how to improve the world of programming. This weblog has become infamous among the programming world, and is linked to more than 600 other web sites and translated into 30+ languages! Spolsky's extraordinary writing skills, technical knowledge, and caustic wit have made him a programming guru. With the success of Joel on Software , there has been a strong demand for additional gems and advice, and this book is the answer to those requests. Containing a collection of all–new articles from the original, More Joel on Software has even more of an edge than the original, and the tips for running a business or managing people have far broader application than the software industry. We feel it is safe to say that this is the most useful book you will buy this year.

Genres: Programming, Software, Computer Science, Technology, Nonfiction, Business, Computers

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't expect a lot from this book. It was published when the world was still young and great reptiles ruled the world - eight years ago. I picked it up because I've read quite a bit of Joel Spolsky's blog and I expected quite a lot from the dead-tree version.

My expectations weren't betrayed. The book features a lot of great information on how software should be developed by tackling all the non-software problems: hiring developers, building a great work environment, handling delicate topics, and much more. It gave me a glimpse at the wider state of software development and get a sense of the direction we're heading in or what kind of problems the field is having.

The book also invoked a feeling of sadness, because, even though it was compiled a good eight years ago out of Joel's even older blog posts, most of the great actionable items described in it only live on in a few hundred software shops out there. We're still expected to be ok with working in noisy open-plan offices, being told to ditch quality control measures like testing in order to "get to market faster" (then told to work overtime to "fix them darn bugs of yours"), effective forms of Agile have died out (XP) and other forms of Agile have been mutated into tools of coercion (Scrum), and much more. There doesn't seem to be a light in the tunnel.

[Romain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il s’agit tout simplement d’un recueil d’articles du blog Joel on Software venant compléter ceux qui avaient été sélectionnés pour constituer le premier recueil au titre éponyme Joel on Software. On pourrait donc légitiment se dire que l’on y trouvera pas le meilleur, que ce sera du réchauffé – un peu comme la suite, souvent peu inspirée d’un film à succès – et d’un côté c’est vrai, il y a indéniablement de ça. Mais en même temps lorsque l’on a beaucoup apprécié le premier – et c’est mon cas – on est bien content d’avoir du rab qu’il soit réchauffé ou pas. On pourrait aussi se dire tout aussi légitimement qu’il s’agit de vielles histoires – de dinosaures – du temps des grands débuts tonitruants d’Internet, c’est vrai aussi, mais certaines n’en restent pas moins édifiantes, le recul ne les rendant que plus vraies.

L’une de celles qui m’a le plus intéressée et racontée dans l’article Martian Headsets est le renversement du principe de robustesse dans le design[1] qui se résume habituellement de cette façon.

Be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others.

Il explique comment ce principe, qui parait évident tellement il est frappé de bon sens, a mené à la catastrophe de la non standardisation des navigateurs web et finalement à un gâchis colossal de temps et d’argent – sans parler de l’énervement engendré auprès des utilisateurs qu’ils soient informaticien ou pas d’ailleurs. A la lumière de cette expérience cette tolérance pourrait être prise pour du laxisme.

Et puis il y a l’intelligence de Joel Spolsky et son écriture enthousiasmante pleine d’humour qui rendrait agréable la lecture d’un article consacré à l’encodage des caractères – et c’est vrai, il existe.

Watching nonprogrammer trying to run software companies is like watching someone who doesn’t know how to surf trying to surf.

Encore un bon moment passé à lire des réflexions intéressantes avec un petit sourire aux coins des lèvres.

Également publié sur mon blog.

[Vasya Rudas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is just “old” for current moment. It has some great stories but they not so useful in current days, especially for a developers that 2-3 years in the IT.

[Arjen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book bundling Joel Spolky's thoughts on software development, software education, companies and stuff. Actually, it's a collection of blog posts published somewhere between 2000 - 2008.

I like Joel. I like the way he writes. He must have been in 37Signals minds when they wrote in 'Getting Real': hire good writers. Joel is a good writer having the ability to explain difficult concepts in a language my father understands. On top of that he is funny at times.

My favourite story from this book is where he tells about refactoring the code for fogbugz ('Rub a Dub Dub'). It's really comforting to see that even guys like him are "removing all formatting from HTML on putting it in CSS" or "removing all SQL statements from presentation code". Software grows, emerges, evolves. You don't write genius code in one go. Only geniuses do. Not you. Not me. Not Joel.

Read this one and his other blog collection book as well.

[Paweł Rusin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joel writings on software are witty and full of insights. His ideas come from applying various domains, such as economy, mathematics, psychology to the software development. This shows how important it is to be well rounded, knowledge hungry to be successful.

[Ilya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Вторая книга Джоэла оказалась такой же полезной пищей для размышлений, как и первая. Здесь он пишет, в основном, об управлении проектами разработки ПО и ведении софтверного бизнеса. Советую всем, кто собирается заниматься этим. Не понравился только неуместный анекдот про Россию.

[Chiang Chunyu]

這本比較偏向於如何經營一間軟體公司的本質。

[Mario Krapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many ideas in this book go beyond software development and are thus applicable to other issues of your professional life.

[Chibimagic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like the original Joel on Software, this book is a collection of articles that Joel Spolsky has posted on his website in the past 10 years. And like the original, it's loosely organized into parts, but there's no overarching narrative. Unlike the original, the articles are fascinating up to the last word, and I was genuinely surprised when I reached the last page. It left me wanting more.

Joel is an amazing writing about software development: programming itself, management, and the entire product lifecycle. His books are the new Mythical Man Month, but way more fun to read, way more comprehensive, and without any of the boring stuff that only pertains to writing operating systems in the 1960s. He covers programming, design, managing, hiring, pricing, customer service--everything a software company needs to succeed and thrive. And his writing is so good, even though you can find every word of this book on his website for free, you'll still want to buy this book and carry it with you and read it again and again as a moderm software development bible.

[Saurabh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book certainly deserves a 5 star rating not because it talks about the intricacies of software industry from Joel's point of view but because it makes you aware of every single aspect of the software industry warning you of all the pitfalls. This is one of the best books I have ever read on software and is a bible every software guy should read and assimilate.It teaches you the tips and tricks of software development and the business in close proximity from someone who has been there and done that.As a startup guy I found it extremely invaluable and I am sure I'd read it over and over again going ahead.

[Joel Cares · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure I had read at least half of this book before on Joel's blog (big surprise, it's a book of blog posts) but it was still interesting to read through this. As I'm in the beginning stages of a programming career I found myself mostly nodding and saying "Yes, that seems correct" a lot. This is definitely the kind of book I want to pick up again in 5 years and dive a little deeper into the thoughts behind it all. Great writer, great book. He sets a high bar for me, another Joel in the software world. I've got a lot of blogs to write.

[Abhishek Kona · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, Joel clearly thought I made so much money with the first book. May be I can make some more with the second one.

This is a poor follow up to the first book. It would have been 10 times better if Joel released an updated version of the first book - but I get it, he is not a full time book author.

Suggest skipping this book. Though: there are 2-3 quite good articles in it.

[pluton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The continuation of the first book, Joel on Software, is also a set of articles from Joel's blog. Most of them are still relevant (business-related), some are relevant because software development stumbles upon the same problems again and again (history repeating), and a small part is old.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is basically selected blog posts from http://www.joelonsoftware.com in book form for offline portability. There is definitely some good relevant content here covering a wide range of topics around effective software engineering, management, and the state and nature of the industry.

[Shana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly enjoyable and really interesting. It's not so often that you get a technical book that is actually a pleasure to read. Joel Spolsky has some really interesting opinions and I learned a lot of stuff about software development that I wasn't aware of.

[Suzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explains the things that should and do happen at software companies and in code. Pretty great, though I don't share his view on liberal arts or non prestigious schools for the most part. (It isn't Joel on Liberal Arts, and those classes weren't his favorites, which is fine.)

[Khang Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like how "ignore everyone" was better than "the devil plan", More Joel on software is a bit less than the original Joel on software. If you have read Smart and Get Thing Done, the content of part 1, 2 (and 3? I don't remember clearly) is sort of repeated.

[Sten Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Here's what I think of this book: http://blogs.citytechinc.com/sanderso...

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Joel, if you tell the "I once worked at this bakery..." story one more time, I swear I'm going to scream.

[Benjamin Sigrist · Rating 3 out of 5]

witty and intelligent. this is a great read. even if you are not planning to go into the software business, it's a great look into the mind of a sharp entrepreneur.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Nother good Spolsky book. Almost enough said right there if you're a software developer.

Essays adapted from joelonsoftware.com, but with additional content. Hooray for that.

[Hemil Deshmukh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Software development tips from the trenches! As good as the first one.

[Simon Parsons]

Another good selection of Joel writing from his web site. As always his style makes reading fun.

[Alon Gutman · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a lot to learn from him, I don't find him that much of a good writer compare to his popularity.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than the first.

my favorite quote: "Managers exist to get furniture out of the way so the real talent can do brilliant work."

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and filled with good, commonsense information. The first book was better, which is to be expected, as the books are culled from blogs on his website. Recommended for programmers.

[Angelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as the cover advertises: all the best material from the blog, now in a convenient dead-tree format. Sometimes it's just good to freshen up on what you already read before.

[Nikita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the sequel as much as the first book - thought provoking and humorous.

[Nikolaos Korasidis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grand software schemes as well as small-scale technical advice, all wrapped in good humour and bathed in hard-earned experience. If you dabble in software, there is no excuse not to read it.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff here: from managing engineers, to self-learning, and advice towards more realistic self-scheduling--I found a lot to like in here, all written in a breezy, humorous style.