Other sellers on Amazon

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the authors

The Best Software Writing I: Selected and Introduced by Joel Spolsky 1st ed. Edition

by Avram Joel Spolsky (Author)

4.4 43 ratings

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$25.00","priceAmount":25.00,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"25","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"00","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"B6DBIY7xKEqWHusayrrrJzPsyD9ZNM7lVBngyjtcTz88tzRHRbFKgXSqwV3VNX1oDOYGCwRoEc0TZS5Lzm522lrTx%2Fd1fhfnhN1%2Bx%2Bwy%2BUQdADr1w7kALIXzn0ZPe5ZWiMh6bPuA1vM3Y1o6rSI1wt6D9vCN0h7R38gJvi5Gg%2BT%2B464YpmdRkZJOomVRdis8","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$15.01","priceAmount":15.01,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"15","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"01","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"B6DBIY7xKEqWHusayrrrJzPsyD9ZNM7lpbJ%2F5gGUiPNyAGhjDcgp%2FAm2mjhs0%2FgKS0GPU1S9oPjtgxEUaqElvLSlnlveQ4h6Up9nyLrGSn%2B3cB5oGU5Tt6bYKzsljSabie%2BAoFrHJMueTcJh%2B74oqk72OfaLmmYjcmAoKLnmdYf1zr61qSTsxsssvSs2zMjh","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

It's nice having a collection of high-quality writing related to software and the business in one place instead of trawling the Web for it. Meryl K. Evans, meryl. ...an entertaining read with a number of enlightening insights into what I do for a living... The whole book is fantastic though, and you should absolutely pick it up...in dead tree form. This is a book worth checking out, even if you're not a software developer.

With a nod to both the serious and funny sides of technical writing, The Best Software Writing I: Selected and Introduced by Joel Spolsky is an entertaining read and a guide to the technical writing literati.

The Best Software Writing contains writings from:

Ken Arnold
Leon Bambrick
Michael Bean
Rory Blyth
Adam Bosworth
danah boyd
Raymond Chen
Kevin Cheng and Tom Chi
Cory Doctorow
ea_spouse
Bruce Eckel
Paul Ford
Paul Graham
John Gruber
Gregor Hohpe
Ron Jeffries
Eric Johnson
Eric Lippert
Michael Lopp
Larry Osterman
Mary Poppendieck
Rick Schaut
Aaron Swart
Clay Shirky
Eric Sink
why the lucky stiff

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joel Spolsky is a globally recognized expert on the software development process. His web site Joel on Software (JoelonSoftware.com) is popular with software developers around the world and has been translated into over 30 languages. As the founder of Fog Creek Software in New York City, he created FogBugz, a popular project management system for software teams. Joel has worked at Microsoft, where he designed Visual Basic for Applications as a member of the Excel team, and at Juno Online Services, developing an Internet client used by millions. He has written two books: User Interface Design for Programmers (Apress, 2001) and Joel on Software (Apress, 2004). Joel holds a bachelor's of science degree in computer science from Yale University. Before college, he served in the Israeli Defense Forces as a paratrooper, and he was one of the founders of Kibbutz Hanaton.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Apress; 1st ed. edition (June 30, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 346 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1590595009
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1590595008
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.01 x 0.75 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,050,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #98 in Software Programming Compilers
- #420 in Software Testing
- #1,312 in Software Development (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 43 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Joel Spolsky
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.
See more on the author's page
danah boyd
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
danah boyd is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, the Founder of Data & Society, and a Visiting Professor at New York University. Her research examines the intersection of technology, society, and youth culture. Currently, she's focused on research questions related to "big data", privacy and publicity, youth meanness and cruelty, and civil rights.
To learn more about danah, check out her website: http://www.danah.org/ or visit her blog: Apophenia - http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/
You can also find danah on Twitter @zephoria
See more on the author's page

Customer reviews

43 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Review this product

Write a customer review

Customers say

Customers find the book helpful for software development. They appreciate the articles on social software and different perspectives on the topic, from formatting code to forced overtime. Readers also praise the writing style as good.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more

Software development Writing style

5 customers mention "Software development"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book helpful for software development. They say it covers different aspects of software development, from formatting code to forced overtime. The articles on social software are excellent. Overall, customers find the book insightful and a good guide.

"...Zeal is bountiful in the software industry yet many people are shy to start or don't know what good writing looks like applied to this field...." Read more

"...He is smart, experienced, and has a wealth of knowledge to share...." Read more

"It is very help for the software company! If you can implement some of the tips, your company will change in deep I think!" Read more

"This is a collection of 29 essays about software development, selected and introduced by Joel Spolsky (of Joel on Software fame)...." Read more

4 customers mention "Writing style"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style. They also mention that good writing in software is clear.

"...His writing style is plain-spoken and filled with interesting anecdotes that hold the reader's attention while he teaches them something good." Read more

"...Two words: Eric Sink. Eric is an incredibly good writer, who of course, has at least one of his own books as well...." Read more

"...of whether they've been published before or not, the writing is consistently good...." Read more

"What does good writing (in Software) look like?..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Amazon Customer
Awesome book!
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2024
Verified Purchase
Awesome book! Still relevant in 2024.

Read more

Helpful

Report
D. Siah
What does good writing (in Software) look like?
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2018
Verified Purchase
Read this book if you are a software developer. The book is clearly intended to get people in software to read more of their peers more outstanding writings/opinions on the matter. Why? Simply put software engineers and the family of similar roles are highly dependent on good communication, however good writing skills are seemingly deficient in the field. By reading (and ideally going on and writing) these samples the author intends get people to consider what good communication (primarily persuasive writing) looks like.

The best part is how wildly strange some of the opinions in the book are. Consider an essay where the thesis is that check-styles should through compile time errors. I mentioned this essay to some of my colleagues and it clearly sparks debate, most people disagree with the statement and have great arguments.

Zeal is bountiful in the software industry yet many people are shy to start or don't know what good writing looks like applied to this field. So if you are a developer or manager in the industry do yourself (and teammates) a favor and read/share this book. If you enjoy this book, you'll definitely enjoy the author's own blog joelonsoftware.com and other writers on the topic. It's the good kind of rabbit hole.

Read more

Helpful

Report
Tarek1611
Almost no value
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2024
Verified Purchase
Almost no value

Read more

Helpful

Report
Sergey
joel is smart and insightful
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2013
Verified Purchase
If you're interested in the business of software, Joel Spolsky is a name that should definitely be on your bookshelf. He is smart, experienced, and has a wealth of knowledge to share. His writing style is plain-spoken and filled with interesting anecdotes that hold the reader's attention while he teaches them something good.

Read more

Helpful

Report
Greg Tomkins
Sink or Swim
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2007
Verified Purchase
I reread this book the other day, and I had forgotten how much I love it. Two words: Eric Sink. Eric is an incredibly good writer, who of course, has at least one of his own books as well. Anyway, this compilation is terrific.

Read more

Helpful

Report
LIUGANNING
Good guide
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2012
Verified Purchase
It is very help for the software company!
If you can implement some of the tips, your company will change in deep I think!

Read more

Helpful

Report
Henrik Warne
Many gems in this varied mix
Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2005
Verified Purchase
This is a collection of 29 essays about software development, selected and introduced by Joel Spolsky (of Joel on Software fame).

I've been a regular reader of Joel's site for many years, and many of the themes Joel has been writing about (social software, outsourcing, the dangers of measuring the performance of individuals using simple bug metrics, and sales and marketing of software) are reflected in the included essays.

Many of the authors have already published books of their own (Bruce Eckel, Paul Graham, Mary Poppendieck and Ron Jeffries come to mind), but regardless of whether they've been published before or not, the writing is consistently good. This isn't surprising, since according to the back cover, the goal of the book is to show-case good writing, and since Joel himself is a very good writer.

I had read a few of the essays before the book was published (and in the case of "Great Hackers" by Paul Graham, I had actually listen to it, thanks to ITConversations), but most of them were new to me. They cover a lot of different angles on software development, from how to format your code, to forced overtime.

The best essays in my opinion are "The Pitfalls of Outsourcing Programmers" (a short but well argued piece on why outsourcing many times isn't such a good idea), "Strong Typing vs. Strong Testing" (on the benefits of automatic unit tests) and "Style is Substance" (why not standardizing on one coding style - why not indeed).

Actually, as I look through the contents to pick which essays I liked the most, it is hard to choose. Many of them are really good. I have to pick a few more: "Measuring Testers by Test Metrics Doesn't" (with a great example of exactly how this can create a lot of extra work without adding any value), and the cleverly named "How Many Microsoft Employees Does It Take to Change a Lightbulb?" (explaining how a seemingly small change ripples through a big company).

Also, honorable mentions to Clay Shirky's two entries about social software (I had read both before, but they are very insightful and worth re-reading) and to Eric Sink's about software sales and marketing.

The least interesting for me were "Processing Processing" (musings on the nature of the web) and "Passion" (about passion for programming, which is a good subject, but this essay just didn't work for me).

There are also a couple of entries in the "Humor" category. The second essay is a hilarious send-up of the crappy Windows search, and the last essay made me laugh aloud several times. It's a quick tour of Ruby (the programming language), but with lots of stream-of-consciousness side tracks. And cartoon foxes! Not to be missed.

Joel's introductions are generally good and add to the experience. There is also a liberal sprinkling of footnotes, where Joel explains certain names and terms. Mostly this is OK, but it goes over-board sometimes. Given that this presumably is a book the will mostly be read by software developers, do we really need explanations of API-call, iTunes or Skype?

I suspect this collection will be followed by a "The Best Software Writing II", and I'm looking forward to reading that one too. By the way, since all the essays were culled from the web, you can probably find all of them just by surfing. But for me, it was worth it to have them all collected in book-form.

To summarize, a varied collection of interesting and well written essays on software development. Recommended.

Read more

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
Ugo Cei
Good style and great content
Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2005
The blurb on the back cover reads:

"At my own company, we instituted a policy: we only want to hire software developers who can write, and write well. Just try submitting a résumé to me with grammatical errors or a cover letter that reads like it was written by that guy who translates those instruction manuals for really cheap consumer electronics. I dare you."

I think this is a great policy. Being able to communicate well is one of the greatest and most overlooked assets to look for in good software developers. With this book, Joel Spolsky shows us some of the best examples of good writing in the field of software.

If it were just a matter of good writing style, the importance of this book would be rather limited. But its real value, besides the stylistic aspect, is the great content. Most articles are not just well written, but also very interesting, insightful or outrightly funny. Great content in a nice package.

I've previously referred to Paul Graham's essay "Great Hackers", which is one of the best. My other favorites are Ken Arnold's "Style is Substance" and why the lucky stiff's introduction to the Ruby language.

My only small gripe with the book is the fact that most, if not all, the material inside is already available on the net. It sure is pleasant having it all nicely collected and printed in a book, so that you can read it on the plane or at the beach, but I find it quite improbable that all good software writing can be found on the net and none in print magazines and book. Or maybe it is simply easier to obtain republishing rights for online material than it is for printed stuff? A couple of comic strips seem quite out of place, too.

Apart from these minor details, a very entertaining and stimulating read. Highly recommended.

Read more

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report

Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
Five Stars
Reviewed in India on July 2, 2018
Verified Purchase
one of the best

Read more
Report
Toby Allen
This is great.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 6, 2005
Verified Purchase
I like this book. I have been a reader of Joel Spolskys website for many years now, and enjoy his irreverent style and interesting analysis, so any writing he reckons is good enough to put in a book is worth reading as far as I'm concerned. This book begins to treat people who are interested in software as normal people rather than A. Dummies B. Nerds or C. People with too much money who are willing to buy books that dont really tell you anything.
The book itself is made up of articles (from 1 page to a 10) taken from websites, and have everything from cartoon foxes to stick men with fangs. The articles are all inspiring, entertaining or interesting or all three. This book is well worth the purchas price.
I'm looking forward to II

Read more
Report
CSOMÁK GÁBOR
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 24, 2016
Verified Purchase
Must have for every software developer

Read more
Report

See more reviews

Image Unavailable

Follow the authors