Beautiful Software [Paperback]

Chuck Connell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2011

Software quality matters. Software runs our banking operations, air traffic control, stock markets, global navigation, personal information privacy, and many other facets of our lives. Good software helps all of these things run smoothly; bad software has the potential to hurt or even kill people.

But what, exactly, distinguishes good software from bad software? Expert programmers know good software when they see it, and they are likely to produce it themselves. What do they see in the better software that makes it better? And how do they write it? Are there universal principles of good software design, that all high-quality examples share, and which are absent from poor software? If so, what are these principles?

The book addresses these questions and is written for anyone in the computer field or related areas: programmers, managers, investors, engineers, scientists. It is also useful as a supplementary text in a college course on software engineering.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Beautiful Software

2. The Missing Theory of Refactoring

3. All Source Code Should Be Open

4. Is Software Patentable?

5. A Software Schedule Ain't Nothin' but a Piece of Paper

6. It's Not About Lines of Code

7. Why Software Really Fails, and What to Do About It

8. What the Linux Community Needs To Grok

9. Do Open Source Projects Manage Themselves?

10. Why Software Engineering Matters

11. Software Engineering Is More than Computer Science

12. A Quagmire in the Tar Pit

13. Hey, Programmers! We Got No Theory!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chuck Connell is a software consultant and teaches at Boston University. His articles about software engineering have been published by The Boston Globe, Dr. Dobb's Journal, Slashdot, and IBM. His work can be found at BeautifulSoftware.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (April 11, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1456438786
• ISBN-13: 978-1456438784
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,641,974 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good explanation for what's ails the software industry, May 27, 2011

By 

J. Bunzick - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beautiful Software (Paperback)

Connell's book makes a really interesting case for how to think about the problem of designing good software, and why the industry doesn't seem to do a very good job now. The author uses comparisons to the construction industry and other engineering disciplines to good use, showing how in other fields the types of failures found in the software industry would not be tolerated. He also makes cases for both open software, and for inherent patentability of software--no, they're not incompatible! The book is well-written in a style that's not jargon-laden, nor accessible only to those with special knowledge. This makes it of interest to those with merely an interest in the industry, as well as to software developers with years of experience.

5.0 out of 5 stars What's wrong with software, July 29, 2011

By 

Abide - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beautiful Software (Paperback)

This is a very enjoyable and informative series of essays exploring many aspects of software development that deserve more attention. Connell's main theme is that we tolerate substandard development practices in software that we would never tolerate in other fields. He discusses the similarities and differences between software and other engineering disciplines, focussing on why software projects are notoriously hard to schedule and frequently unreliable. The book leads through a series of well-organized issues and addresses them in a very readable and engaging style.

Overall, a very stimulating book about a topic that more of us should be thinking about (professionals and consumers alike). There are a few specific points where I disagree with the author but they are minor; and even then, the essay prompted me to dwell on interesting or unusual issues not normally considered.

Really, my only criticism is that I wish the book was longer and that Connell explored each topic in more depth. When Connell writes a follow up, I'll definitely read it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Software is beautifully readable and enjoyable, June 28, 2011

By 

Daniel J. Weidman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beautiful Software (Paperback)

Beautiful Software is a readable and enjoyable book. It's short, with several essays. And, some of the essays have been blogs, with replies, so the information is more engaging than a typical book written by one author without responses. In one chapter, the author even let's his critic have the last word. My favorite parts are the metaphors, such as comparing software to a house, requiring both good initial design by an architect and also good construction techniques by the builders. This book will be entertaining and interesting to anyone who has ever written any software, or who wonders why software can't be better, or is in any field of engineering that demands quality delivered to a schedule and a budget. I programmed for a few years in Visual Basic, but mostly have been in electrical engineering and reliability engineering, and I liked this book very much.

The writing style is very friendly, not at all condescending to those of us who are not experts in software engineering, nor is the tone of the writing at all arrogant when the author presents his opinions. And, it's refreshing to hear someone in the field of software explain that software can be better. This book would make a perfect gift--for yourself or someone else.