Customer Reviews

Dude, Did I Steal Your Job? Debugging Indian Computer Programmers

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a software developer, I'm well aware of the offshoring/H1-B controversy. When I was offered a chance to review the self-published book Dude, Did I Steal Your Job? Debugging Indian Computer Programmers by N. Sivakumar, I welcomed the opportunity. An interesting read from the "other side"...

The author is an Indian software engineer living in the US, and he presents his own observations and views on America's issues in the IT industry. Aside from the stories about cultural adjustment, there's real solid material here. He does an excellent job in differentiating between offshoring and the H1-B visa program. And while there definitely are abuses in the H1-B program, an open-minded reader will see that there are some tangible benefits to the economy in general and the industry specifically. I didn't realize that many of the major technology companies were started by immigrants who came to America to pursue a dream. Not that I thought that Americans had to have started them... I just hadn't given it much thought. Towards the end of the book, he talks about offshoring and understands that as it is currently practiced, its usually devastating to workers. He's also not in favor of it in its current form. He recommends some changes to the process that would help ease the transition of affected workers, and the concepts are worth consideration.

Getting back to the stories... He shares a number of cultural observations and stories of what its like to be an Indian programmer in America. Many will cause you to laugh, and far too many will cause you to wonder how we could be so rude. He doesn't pull punches, so it's not as if he's painting Indians as poor abused minorities. He points out the faults and oddities on both sides. There are a lot of generalizations, as there would have to be when you're discussing a cultural group as a whole. But I think that the typical American IT worker could learn a lot (and gain some empathy) by reading the book.

If you're looking for a smoothly written, highly edited piece of literature, you may be disappointed. He went the self-publishing route to tell his story, and as a result you'll see some rough edges. But the writing is real, the views are balanced, and it's a worthy read for anyone who is trying to come to grips with the changes in the IT landscape. You may not agree with parts of the book, but you'll be forced to put a face on the issues as opposed to dealing with "them".

An interesting and a thought provoking book! Siva has conveyed a lot of commom traits shared among the immigrants of the indian subcontinent. And has tackled the issue of outsourcing,its pros and cons in a fair and a balanced way. Although i doubt if it will make an impression on the message boards. Its not easy talking about the benefits of outsourcing to someone who has lost his/her job becasue of it. Just as it was not easy explaining the benefits of computerization in india when people were replaced by computers imported from US!

Its a book most people can identify with (especially Indians and programmers). An enjoyable book which presents certain facts that probably never occur to people! The author deals with a very sensitive issue with balance and humor making the reading experience quite enjoyable

The author presents several interesting points about the discussion revolving imigrant programmers and in particular Indian programmers holding work visas here in the US. He is addressing the issue in a light-hearted manner, though I am sure he has a strong emotional attachment to it and/or knows quite a few people with very strong feelings about it.

It is a controversial topic - not necessarily something to make light of and discuss on a lazy Sunday morning.

This certainly could have been a very useful and relevant text, but in its current form the implementation is quite unfortunate. It is quite poorly edited, having an unnecessary number of spelling and grammar errors. This is not just in those sections where the grammatical shortcomings of other people are indicated. I found some bad, bad wording, where I assume the author attempted to use humor to lighten up the mood or tried to make his monologue flow swifter. This painfully backfires in those instances though when he indicates that he can't help you out any further, if you "didn't get" his reasoning and that maybe you should try some medication. Sorry - that's no way to gain credibility.

The more severe blunder that I found however is the complete lack of resources. The author uses quite a few apparently direct quotes, mentions statistics and also casually mentions that "someone said something" - without ever providing a proper source where the reader could actually find out more about the context. The work loses quite a lot of credibility this way.

No, I don't doubt that many of the quotes and other "supporting evidence" bear truth, but the absence of the references to actual source leaves me guessing. Trying to take a serious issue serious, I would like to see the provided reasoning (no matter for which side) duely backed up and not possibly taken out of context and used where it seemed fitting.

My general impression on this book is that it is honest, absorbing and deeply thought out.

The flow of the book and the different type set makes this book easy to read and kept me intensely interested even though I felt at times that the author deviates from the message he wants to deliver.

The first chapter is very funny and honest and at least parts of it reflect similar events experienced by me personally.

Of particular interest were some of the views that the author has expressed (that I never thought about) on the benefits derived by U.S. from immigrant programmers (and vice versa). They include,
-- Jump start of U.S. economy and the IT industries in early 90's thus creating a huge job market, which many enjoys now.
-- Major innovations and successful entrepreneurs in IT and other industries that helps U.S. to be the market leader in the world.
-- Extremely minimal spending by U.S. government on education and experience gained by each immigrant prior to start working in U.S.
-- Huge amount (105 billion per year!!) of spending by immigrants that helps to sustain the economic growth and the amount of money that the US saves in the form of social security deductions.

Comparison of American and Indian programmers sounds fair and I certainly agree with the author's statement "A good programmer is a good programmer irrespective of his or her origin".

Initially I felt if why the author should care to address some of the comments by fellows who spew their venom at immigrant programmers when the author (or myself) does not see any truth in them. The author could have completely ignored the baseless hatred comments. But by observing the fact that those comments are read by hundreds of thousands of people and might possibly spread the hatred unnecessarily, I really appreciate the author's effort to address some of the hate comments in a balanced way.

This book accurately reflects the lifestyles & travails of "Desis" in the USA. With the aid of his brutally frank views about outsourcing of jobs & H1b visa, the author attempts to draw a fair balance.

To me, the best parts of the book are the humourous tid-bits on stereotypes of Asian Indians in America.

Using humor as an effective platform, Sivakumar conveys facts without emotion. There are many mis-conceptions about outsourcing and offshoring and Siva effectively explains the journey very well. In a global world, where value for money counts, I guess offshoring provides not only cost effective solutions for the world marketplace, but also wakes up the Indian economy which in turn buys products and technologies made in the US. Thats a 1.2 billion people economy which holds virtually infinite growth potential.

This is an amazing book delivering the truth with so much humor. What impressed me is the way he discussed the cultural issues and brought out the other side (American) of the tstory with honesty and openness. He addressed the whole crisis of Asian immigrant workers, outsourcing and the American people losing jobs at the macro and micro level, never forgetting the fact that ultimately it is the individual who is at pain on either side. While dealing the issue, through out, he kept the interests of all the groups caught in the crisis and suggested the anti-immigrant groups to take a pause and think it over.

Funny, informative and most important of all keeps you going till the end.
Well balanced book with good and bad aspects of both Indian and American
Programmers in humorous way!
I am glad someone took the step to let everyone know how much we (Immigrants) contribute to this country. In Short "Good Book!!!"

Sivakumar has given an Economics 101 lesson to Lou Dobbs and others on free trade, in a language a 5 year old can understand. Whether you agree with Lou or not, read this book. This unknown author has done a marvelous job of mixing a very serious issue with a great presentation you would have never come across or read before.