Joel on Software and over 360,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle � Amazon�s new wireless reading device. Learn more

Quantity:

Express Checkout with PayPhrase

What's this? | Create PayPhrase

More Buying Choices

62 used & new from $3.98

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Share with Friends

See all product images
See 1 customer image

Share your own customer images

Search inside this book

Start reading Joel on Software on your Kindle in under a minute. Don�t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: leaky abstractions, antialiased text, own dog food, Visual Basic, Internet Explorer, Fog Creek (more...)

4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)

List Price:	$24.99
Price:	$16.49 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save:	$8.50 (34%)
	o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Thursday, November 12? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

35 new from $3.98 27 used from $3.98

Formats		Amazon Price	New from	Used from
Kindle Edition $9.99 Available for download now. Published August 2, 2004	Kindle Edition	$9.99	--	--
Paperback $16.49 In Stock. Published August 1, 2004	Paperback	$16.49	$3.98	$3.98

Frequently Bought Together

Price For All Three: $49.47

Show availability and shipping details

This item: Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity by Joel Spolsky
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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 by Joel Spolsky
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
The Best Software Writing I: Selected and Introduced by Joel Spolsky (v. 1) by Joel Spolsky
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

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

by Joel Spolsky

4.0 out of 5 stars (7) $16.49

The Best Software Writing I: Selected and Introduced by Joel Spolsky (v. 1)

by Joel Spolsky

4.0 out of 5 stars (27) $16.49

Smart and Gets Things Done: Joel Spolsky's Concise Guide to Finding the Best Technical Talent

by Joel Spolsky

3.7 out of 5 stars (23) $11.55

Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

by Michael Lopp

3.9 out of 5 stars (33) $16.49

The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition (2nd Edition)

by Frederick P. Brooks

4.5 out of 5 stars (144) $32.69

› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Spolsky is knowledgeable, funny and free of unnecessary religious fervor. Joel on Software is a must-read. ...having (Joel on Software) in one place, edited, with an index, is probably the best twenty-five dollars you'll spend this year.</a> </blockquote> — Greg Wilson, Dr. (Joel Spolsky's) genuine desire to make the software world a better place keeps us coming back for more.</a> </blockquote> — Bruce Hadley, softwareCEO. This book will challenge, encourage, upset, and entertain you. Spolsky knows his stuff, and he's got the war wounds to prove it. This book is worth the price of admission...</a> </blockquote> — Tom Duff, Duffbert's Random Musings </div>

An entertaining oportunity to get to know one of today's most influential developer/authors.Spolsky based these observations on years of personal experience.

The result just a handful of years later? Spolsky's technical knowledge, caustic wit, and extraordinary writing skills have earned him status as a programming guru! His blog has become renowned throughout the programming world&emdash;now linked to more than six hundred websites and translated into over thirty languages.

Joel on Software covers every conceivable aspect of software programming&emdash;from the best way to write code, to the best way to design an office in which to write code! All programmers, all people who want to enhance their knowledge of programmers, and all who are trying to manage programmers will surely relate to Joel's musings.

From the Publisher

Announcing a new book from Apress: Read Joel Spolsky's unique and humourous insights.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

Paperback: 362 pages
Publisher: Apress (August 2, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1590593898
ISBN-13: 978-1590593899
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #68,003 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Joel Spolsky Page

Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
leaky abstractions, antialiased text, own dog food, bug count, daily builds, bug database, software schedules

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Visual Basic, Internet Explorer, Fog Creek, The Joel Test, Aunt Marge, Magazine Camp, Microsoft Excel, Home Page, Log In Form, Big Macs, Hollywood Express, Second Edition, Dorset House, The Naked Chef, App Architecture, New York City, Bill Gates, Joel Spolsky, Extreme Programming, Visual Studio, Law of Leaky Abstractions, Jamie Zawinski, Miss Piggy, Microsoft Office, Method Computation

Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	73% buy the item featured on this page: Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity 4.7 out of 5 stars (55) $16.49
	9% buy The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition (2nd Edition) 4.5 out of 5 stars (144) $32.69
	6% buy Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (Second Edition) 4.8 out of 5 stars (84)
	6% buy 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 4.0 out of 5 stars (7) $16.49

Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

software development(16)

software(14)

best practices(11)

programming(9)

project management(8)

software engineering(8)

work(3)

joel spolsky(2)

wtf(2)

design(1)

essay(1)

See all 19 tags...

Customer Reviews

55 Reviews

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (55 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Attitude on parade, February 27, 2005

By	wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

There is a fair bit of hard-won wisdom here. It covers every aspect of the programming world, from praise of hardware, through product management and economics, back to testing and coding style, and on and on. There are a few real gems among these 45 essays (plus intro and appendix), untrammeled by the need for consistency. He's certainly unabashed about bucking current fashions, including all the silliness seen under the revival tent of the eXtremists.

At several points, Joel rails against the false economies of making code smaller and sniggers at the people to whom it matters so much, then (ch 39) he rails against the size of a Microsoft runtime support package. He also points out that antialiased fonts, other than things like headlines, are a bad idea. That was already common knowledge around DEC by about 1980, since the visibly blurred margins of characters led to eyestrain as the focussing muscles fruitlessly tried to find the edge. Modern display technology with far smaller pixel sizes seems to have reversed that decision, however, except possibly at the smallest character sizes - a blow-up of a screen capture will often show antialiasing on body text that looks quite good. If he came on a bit less strong to start with, these annoyances would be a lot less annying.

Joel's incredibly high opinion of Joel wore on me after a while. Despite all the good in this book, I had to drag myself through the last half of his pontifications, repetition, and tendency towards the absolute. If you're already a fan of his other writing, that might not bother you. For me, Joel, in his role as high priest in the cult of Joel, became tiresome. I'm sure he's a skilled developer and savvy business man, but I really don't think I'd enjoy meeting him.

//wiredweird

Comment Comments (2) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

84 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars worth the roughly 20 bucks you'll spend, August 20, 2004

By	David N. Reiss (Haymarket, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've enjoyed reading JoelonSoftware.com for several years now. Joel has a unique down to earth view on computers, programming and business that makes his blog worth reading. He believes in using the right tool for the job, and not just always using a hammer because you have one handy.

There are a lot of books and web sites on how business, software, computers and programming should be conducted. Most fail to understand the basics of what they are talking about because the writer has a theory that he thinks will solve everything. But the theory takes on a life of its own, and becomes more important than observed reality. Just the trap many political, religious and self-help demagogues fall into. They become pie-in-the-sky dreamers and less attached to normal life.

He seems to have a similar, if slightly younger perspective, on the field as Richard P. Gabriel who wrote his now famous "Worse is Better" essay about 10-15 years ago. Another writer/programmer he reminds me of is Paul Graham.

Others I would compare him too, though each if very different in their own ways, are the writings and blog of Wil Wheaton, The Cluetrain Manifesto, and the rants of Fred on Everything (Fred Reed), Jerry Pournelle's Chaos Manor, and much that appears on /.Slashdot.

Joel has not tried to generalize his very specific observations into a unified whole theory of all programming and computer management. But that doesn't prevent you, the home reader, from making those generalizations yourself. You may have to prevent yourself from thinking too much of it, least the Law of Leaky Abstractions take over. Joel gives one a good place to start.

I've used his "Law of Leaky Abstractions" in discussions I had many times.

Also, when I was thinking for a job I used his guide to interviewing when talking to perspective employers. Sure, he wrote it from employers to use, but I was able to easily enough reserve it's principals and applied them to finding out info about the company I was interviewing at. This allowed me find out what the bad interviewers really wanted to know when they didn't know what they wanted. It allowed me to show that I was smart and could get things done to the people who interviewed me. And since I'm employed again it must have worked.

Some of the best essays are:

The Law of Leaky Abstractions
Don't Let Architecture Astronauts Scare You
Interviewing (The Guerrilla Guide to Interviewing)
Three Wrong Ideas From Computer Science
How Microsoft Lost the API War
Getting Things Done When You're Only a Grunt
Top Five (Wrong) Reasons You Don't Have Testers

It is definitely worth the roughly 20 bucks you'll spend on it.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extreamly thought provoking., December 19, 2004

By	Joe Stagner (www.MisfitGeek.com) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Joel is good a pissing people off! Weenie armchair quarterbacks and other fanatics that are easily infuriated probably won't like this book, or Joel's other writings.

A first glance at this book might give you the impression that Joel Spolsky is another bloging cynic with more opinion then experience. But don't be fooled. Joel is a very smart guy and this book is a great read. You probably won't agree with everything he says, I don't, but this book really makes you think.

An old coach of mine (Tony Blauer) told the "Good information doesn't displace OTHER good information."

Considering opinions that are the same as our own is far less valuable than opinions that differ from our own. Joel's book is full of opinions that have "growth opportunity.

Really good writers make you think. According to the chief blogger on my team at Microsoft (Rory Blyth) a great blogger is at least a but controversial, they not only make you think, they make you want to respond. Joel is on my short list of bloggers in aggregator.

The book is basically a collection of Joel's writing originally published on his blog at www.JoelOnSoftware.com, though this is not his first book. As near as I can tell the writings span a time frame from 2000 to 2004.

Joel is an interesting guy, the kind of guy you'd love to debate. He was an Israeli paratrooper went to Yale, worked at Microsoft for a few years then Juno, and now owns Fog Creek Software in New York.

To begin with, the book is a FUN. Joel's casual writing style is almost conversational and makes for a read that's more like listening to a story than reading a manual. I read it cover to cover in two days.

One of the things that I, as a Microsoft employee, love about the book is that Joel published his thoughts at "points in time" and his opinions evolve over time. It's important to remember this as you read the book. His opinions as a former Microsoft employee are also interesting. Some of them I see as dead on. Others tainted by the years between now and when Joel worked at Microsoft and distance between Microsoft's strategy then and now, and, of course, Joel's morphed perspective as the owner of a growing Software Vender. None the less, this is the kind of guy you'd wanna have dinner with. (Joel, can I buy you dinner next time I'm in New York ?)

Above all Joel's perspective on software development is, pragmatic and honest and his style of communication is direct, even blunt (which I love.)

The book is divided into five parts.

1. The practice of programming.
2. Managing Developers
3. Random thoughts on Not-So-Random Topics
4. Microsoft's .NET
5. The Best of Ask Joel

Part one on the practice of programming is full of hard nosed, pragmatic guides for developing great software including Joel's somewhat famous "12 Step Test", the importance of writing specs (and HOW to), scheduling software projects, why you MUST daily build, "Hard-Assed bug fixin', the Five Worlds of Software Development, Paper Prototyping, "Architecture Astronauts" (WICH I LOVED) , Fire & Motion, Wrong Ideal from Computer Science, Biculturalism, and Crash Reports (brilliant!).

Part two can basically be viewed as a forensic guide to (organizationally) why software development projects often fail and how to manage software development so that it doesn't fail. He bucks conventional management theory in explaining that most "incentive programs" in software development are counter-productive, that the industry fails to appropriately hire and keep software testers, developers NEED workspaces with walls and doors, and "Things you should never do" including some really interesting theory on "leaky abstractions".

Part three is all "Joelisms" !

I'm not going to describe this section too much - you really need to read it for yourself, but here are some of the chapter subjects.

" Rick Chapman's In search of Stupidity.
" What is the work of Dogs in the country?
" Getting things done when you're only a grunt. (MANDATORY READING !)
" Big Macs vs. The Naked Chef.
" Nothing is as simple as it seems.
" Defending "Not Invented Here" Syndrome.
" Ben & Jerry's versus Amazon.com
" Chicken and Egg Problems
" Bloatware & the 80/20 myth.
" The Economics of Open Source
" Murphy's Law gone wild.
" How Microsoft lost the API War.

Part four is Joel's reactions, over time, to .NET Tools and Technologies.

Part five is the Best of Ask Joel, selections from his forums.

In summary. GREAT BOOK, whether you agree with Joel's opinions or not. As easy as this book is to read, everyone that works in some part of Software Development or IT should read it.

I hope Joel writes another opinion based book. There are lots of folks writing books that help you learn, far fewer folks are writing books that make you THINK.

Lastly, the thing I liked the very most about this book is that it's reminded me how much I want to write MY OWN book.

Thanks Joel.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 55 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic. Informative and witty.
Excellent read. Funny enough to keep you reading, and informative as well. Very great concepts and unique thinking. Highly recommended.

Published 1 month ago by Brian D. Gunderson

5.0 out of 5 stars something all programmers,managers and people who love programmers should read
What a great book! Every programmer and manager should read Joel - even if you don't agree with him, he brings up tons of points you just cannot ignore. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Allison M. Perkel

5.0 out of 5 stars Smart
Joel is a very smart guy, period.
If you are programmer and do not have time to read cover to cover, just finish these two essays:

- GETTING THINGS DONE WHEN... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Yong Zhi

5.0 out of 5 stars Good follow up for Pragmatic Programmer
If you're a programmer in the business world, read this book. It'll save you a lot of headaches and make you much more confident.

Published 9 months ago by Johntron

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!!
One of the best Software Engineering book I've ever read.
Funny, amaizingly educational, enjoyable.

Published 11 months ago by Fco Javier Piqueres Juan

5.0 out of 5 stars Survives the test of time
In a domain where 6 months is a lifetime, this book has survived the test of time remarkably well. Joel brings to bear his experience as a programmer, program manager and... Read more

Published 14 months ago by therosen

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of interesting thoughts

Joel on Software is a collection of Joels blog posts. There are maybe 40 posts and the book is about 350 pages. Read more

Published 15 months ago by Bas Vodde

4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Essays On Software Development
Sometimes blunt, yet always pragmatic, Joel's writing is crisp and to the point. It should be required reading for IT managers and developers building software apps. Read more

Published 18 months ago by Kevin Raffay

4.0 out of 5 stars Considerable wisdom, occasionally dated
Joel Spolsky's collected essays and blog entries mostly remain fresh enough even after several years (some go back to 2000 and 2001). Read more

Published 21 months ago by T. Burket

5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting for every programmer
I bought this book for my husband who mostly sits 24-7 coding and even if he sleeps then he dreams in code. Read more

Published on November 5, 2007 by Svetlana Lensselink

› See all 55 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }

Customer Discussions

This product's forum

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Receive e-mail when new posts are made

Prompts for sign-in

Guidelines

Active discussions in related forums

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
software Reliable dvd burning software???	5	1 hour ago
software System maintinance software	1	22 hours ago
software Lost pictures on sorting	1	1 day ago
software vcr tape to dvd	8	1 day ago
software Paperport alternative	2	8 days ago
software Choosing the right Security Software. Help?	1	8 days ago
software DVD Copy Software	30	8 days ago