The longer you work in the business of software the more you will begin to see themes in the way the people working on the software and systems see their work. I have most often noticed this when attempting to push for practices that help development. To some extent, skepticism about new practices is reasonable,… Read More »
A couple of years ago, I wrote in The IP Goose about some effects that too strict an IP policy can have on developers. In the intervening two years, I’ve had some other insights that I believe are important. First of all, I stand by my original essay. Companies should be able to protect the… Read More »
Managing Humans Michael Lopp Apress, 2007 Michael Lopp (also known as Rands) describes his take on managing software people. This book is very different from the few other management books I’ve read. Part of the difference is that Lopp writes all of his examples as fiction. He admits this at the beginning. Rather than tell… Read More »
Smart & Gets Things Done Joel Spolsky Apress, 2007 This book represents Joel Spolsky’s approach to hiring programmers. Smart & Gets Things Done is based on Spolsky’s weblog, like his previous book, Joel on Software. In this book, Joel brings together his various writings on hiring software developers. Not surprisingly, Joel bucks traditional wisdom on… Read More »
I recently finished reading Eric Sink on the Business of Software. I had read many of the essays before and, in general, I like what Sink has to say. I’ll freely admit that he knows a lot more about the business of software than I probably ever will, and I’ll normally take his opinion over… Read More »
Eric Sink on the Business of Software Eric Sink Apress, 2006 Eric Sink has been writing on the Business of Software for quite some time. This book shows that not only does he know something about the business side of things, but he’s also familiar with the technical side. These essays do a pretty good… Read More »
The Career Programmer, Second Edition Christopher Duncan Apress, 2006 If you are thinking of The Career Programmer as an insight into the best techniques and technologies for becoming an ultimate Alpha Geek, you will be sorely disappointed. However, if you’ve spent some time dealing with the realities of software development in real companies, much of… Read More »
I probably shouldn’t be, but I’m surprised how often I have heard the statement We can’t do X in our environment… where X is one or more of the following: version control automated testing unit tests design testing object oriented programming bug tracking warning-free compiles In almost every case, the person has claimed to understand… Read More »
Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality Bob Walsh Apress, 2006. This is not the sort of book I would normally read. I’m usually more interested in the technical side of software than the business side. I found this book to be particularly difficult going partly for that reason. But, before I get into what I didn’t… Read More »
Waltzing with Bears Tom DeMarco & Timothy Lister Dorset House Publishing, 2003 The authors of Peopleware are back to tackle the topic of risk management. Given their earlier works, you would expect DeMarco and Lister to provide good insights into the topic and clear explanations. In that, you will not be disappointed with this book.… Read More »