or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
More Buying Choices
76 used & new from $1.42
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Best Software Writing I: Selected and Introduced by Joel Spolsky (v. 1)
 
 
See all product images
See 1 customer image
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

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

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: test manager, why the lucky stiff, sociable media, Mac Word, Electronic Arts, Win Word (more...)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
List Price: $24.99
Price: $18.24 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $6.75 (27%)
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 Wednesday, November 18? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
47 new from $1.50 29 used from $1.42

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Kindle Edition, June 20, 2005 $9.99 -- --
  Paperback, June 19, 2005 $18.24 $1.50 $1.42

Frequently Bought Together

The Best Software Writing I: Selected and Introduced by Joel Spolsky (v. 1) + 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 + 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
Price For All Three: $51.22

Show availability and shipping 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

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

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 (24)  $11.55
User Interface Design for Programmers

User Interface Design for Programmers

by Joel Spolsky
4.1 out of 5 stars (41) 
Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

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

by Michael Lopp
3.9 out of 5 stars (34)  $16.49
The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition (2nd Edition)

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

by Frederick P. Brooks
4.5 out of 5 stars (144)  $25.80
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

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


    • About the Author

    His site has been described as the "anti-Dilbert manifesto." Spolsky has designed and developed software used by millions of people, and has worked on a variety of products, from Microsoft Excel to the Juno user interface. He is the founder of Fog Creek Software in New York City.

    Product Details

    • Paperback: 328 pages
    • Publisher: Apress (June 20, 2005)
    • Language: English
    • ISBN-10: 1590595009
    • ISBN-13: 978-1590595008
    • Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
    • Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
    • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
    • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #178,490 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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

    More About the Author

    Joel Spolsky
    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!
    Search Inside This Book:
    Inside This Book (learn more)
    Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
    test manager, why the lucky stiff, sociable media, page layout code, def speak, great hackers, responsive sales, cartoon foxes, crappy product, danah boyd, demo download, sales guy, good hackers, static type checking, web apps
    Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
    Mac Word, Electronic Arts, Win Word, United States, Chris Peters, Shrink-wrap Qualities, Kaycee Nicole, Chris Mason, Classic Mac, Old Hats, Larry Osterman, Semantic Web, Robert Morris, Tim Berners-Lee, Stinky Pete, Ken Arnold, Nucor Steel, North Beach, Prentice Hall, Tragedy of the Commons, Raymond Chen, Eric Lippert, Bill Gates, Visual Basic, Moore's Law
    Browse Sample Pages:
    Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
    Search Inside This Book:

    Tags Customers Associate with This Product

     (What's this?)
    Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
     
    (13)
    (7)
    (4)
    (4)
    (3)
    (3)
    (3)
    (1)
    (1)
    Agree with these tags?

    Your tags: Add your first tag
     
    See most popular tags
     

    Customer Reviews

    27 Reviews
    5 star:
    		 (11)
    4 star:
    		 (10)
    3 star:
    		 (2)
    2 star:
    		 (4)
    1 star:    (0)
     
     
    		 
     
     
    Average Customer Review
    4.0 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)
     
     
     
     
    Share your thoughts with other customers:
    Most Helpful Customer Reviews

     
    13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
    4.0 out of 5 stars How software geeks should write..., August 20, 2005
    By Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
    I recently received a copy of The Best Software Writing I by Joel Spolsky. As with his other book, it's an entertaining read with a number of enlightening insights into what I do for a living...

    Joel Spolsky has gathered a number of blog entries, essays, and speeches that showcase (in his opinion) the best writings by software professionals. He feels (and I have to agree) that most programmers and developers will avoid writing at all cost, and as a result are not very good at it. You end up with either indecipherable ramblings or dry monotone typing that is akin to enduring some form of medieval torture. And I confess... I probably have strayed into both those areas a few too many times for the sanity of my readers. But by showcasing techno-geeks that can write coherently and with a touch of humor and entertainment, Spolsky hopes to raise the overall level of writing competency in the industry. I don't know if he'll be successful, but it definitely can't hurt...

    Because the writings cover a wide range of topics, there's something for everyone. Or conversely, not everything will appeal to every reader. "Style Is Substance" by Ken Arnold is (for me) a great piece that advocates making programming style a built-in element of a language. Think of the time you'll save by killing off all style wars up front. The cartoon piece "Excel As A Database" will cause all developers to think Rory Blyth must work somewhere in their company with their users. And "A Quick (And Hopefully Painless) Ride Through Ruby (With Cartoon Foxes)" will, although rather strange, give you more information about Ruby in a shorter period of time than you ever thought possible. On the other hand, "A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy" by Clay Shirky was something I seemed to have to slog through. You may well have just the opposite reaction on any or all of these. It's one of the fun things about this compilation... :)

    While you can obviously go out and find all this stuff on-line at the various sites, odds are you won't find what you don't know about. Joel brings together a nice mixture of thoughts and concepts, all packaged within an expert writing style. If you're a professional developer, you probably should pick up a copy and see how writing can be done well...
    Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



     
    28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
    4.0 out of 5 stars Another Joel book, sweet. Or not., August 4, 2005
    Oh yeah, another Joel Spolsky book, just in time for... wha? It's only edited by Joel? Yep. This is a collection of article reprints, some without any editing or reformatting, with small introductions by Joel at the top of each article. That doesn't mean that the book is bad. It just means you need to know what you are getting for your dollars.

    Myself, I'm not much on the article reprints. Granted, these are solid articles. But many can be found of the web and a book which could just as easily be implemented as a set of links on a web page with some annotations seems like a waste.

    There are some jewels in here. In particular the Ruby introduction by "why the lucky stiff" which is just freaking awesome. Why APress decided to reprint his work as opposed to just get him to write a whole book is beyond me. He is a real talent in the world of engineer/authors. Especially given some of the competition, which from many proposals I have read have the writing skills of preschoolers on meth.

    The topics in the book vary too widely for me to recommend this to any particular sub-group of engineer. These articles will be enjoyable to any career engineer who has a passion for the profession.
    Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



     
    10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
    4.0 out of 5 stars We need more writing on software-related topics like these, September 25, 2005
    Having been in process management in a software organization for over ten years, I've seen too many articles and books on the topic that worked better than Valium for putting me to sleep especially since they have no side effects. Many say Joel Spolsky is one of the best writers on the topic of software. However, in this book he stands aside and lets others demonstrate that he isn't the only one who can write about software in English and captivate you.

    Joel on Software (his Web site slash blog) fans won't be disappointed in the selection of authors as they deal with the concepts he writes about on his site. Some readers may be expecting a book solely on software development. Even Spolsky's writings goes beyond this. Some folks might be disappointed that most of the articles, blog entries, speeches, and essays are available somewhere on the Web. I only recognize a few of the authors and their articles, so I would've never known about the others had I not found this book.

    The essays cover a gamut of development-related topics. They include coding style, outsourcing programmers, dealing with Excel as a database, using social software (Friendster, LinkedIn, Tribe, and all that) and the things that are right and wrong withthese shared spaces, emerging digital rights, and defining the two-phase commit process a la Starbucks. Even a couple of them are nothing but comics. The one on Windows search makes me laugh.

    The book also contains business-related essays that address a few problems affecting many companies -- namely team compensation and forced overtime which often spills over the weekend. Spolsky introduces every essay and includes notes clarifying abbreviations, names, or terms that aren't widely known. After all, the world of software is vast and it's impossible to know everything about it. I want to make sure it's clear -- Spolsky does NOT contribute an essay in this book.

    A manager can benefit from the book because of the insight into the developer's perspective which could help the manager become a better leader. The developer benefits because many of the issues covered can impact developers no matter what language is used for development. If you belong to neither management nor development, the best way to decide if the book is for you or not is to review the table of contents and reviews. If you find only one or two interesting possibilities, search for them online instead.

    I'm one of those who belong to neither group. My software organization background has been along the lines of an analyst and process manager. Even I find that most of the essays are enjoyable or educational. Only one or two lost me.

    While most of the content is available on the Internet for free, the book is worth the bucks. It's nice having a collection of high-quality writing related to software and the business in one place instead of surfing the Web for it. Furthermore, you get an opportunity to read about business offline -- I read most of the book while traveling on an airplane. Thanks to the book, the flight felt shorter. I appreciated and absorbed the essays better by reading them in the book than I would have had I read them online.
    Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


    Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
     
     
     
    Most Recent Customer Reviews

    2.0 out of 5 stars Dissapointing when compared to Joel's previous books
    The articles in this book are on the whole, not that interesting. There is no logical flow between subjects, or even style of resulting. Read more
    Published 3 months ago by Mr. D. J. Nicholson

    2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing. Skip it.
    Little of value. Sold it almost immediately. His "Joel on Software," which I kept, is much more interesting.
    Published 5 months ago by M. Jones

    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read
    Amazingly, this book is a great read. Joel did an excellent job of picking out top-notch content. It is often funny (read Rory Blyth's post) and informative (read almost... Read more
    Published 11 months ago by Christopher Brandsma

    5.0 out of 5 stars Must read...sorry must practice
    Lot of my friends have already said enough about this book. So, don't hesitate to add this to your cart!
    Published 14 months ago by Prashant

    4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful collection
    This book is less to do with Joel and his own writing, but more to do with the wonderful writing of others. Read more
    Published 17 months ago by Carl Joseph

    2.0 out of 5 stars Would be better if Joel's ego didn't get in the way
    There really are some good essays in this book, though a few of them are a little boring, and a lot of them really don't have anything to do with software development... Read more
    Published 18 months ago by C. Burnley

    5.0 out of 5 stars A compilation of some of the best thinking
    There are a core set of principles about software development that can either be learned from years of making painful mistakes or by learning of the mistakes of others. Read more
    Published 22 months ago by Nathan Allan

    4.0 out of 5 stars easy reading software book for a tech junkie
    loved the easy read style, interesting topics, down to earth, quick discussions on numerous software development topics. Read more
    Published on September 17, 2007 by Benjamin Chen

    5.0 out of 5 stars Sink or Swim
    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... Read more
    Published on August 21, 2007 by Greg Tomkins

    5.0 out of 5 stars A great collection of interesting, humorous, software related writings. A great book to pass around the office when your done
    The Best Software Writing I [Joel Spolsky], is a nicely rounded selection of essays, blog posts, and other intriguing software related tidbits weaved together by Joel Spolsky's... Read more
    Published on July 8, 2007 by Adam Kahtava

    Only search this product's reviews


    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:
    Prompts for sign-in
     


    Active discussions in related forums
    Search Customer Discussions
    Search all Amazon discussions
       

    Product Information from the Amapedia Community

    Beta (What's this?)

    Help us improve this fledgling article by editing it on Amapedia.com opens new browser window


    Look for Similar Items by Category

    Look for Similar Items by Subject

    Search Books by subject:

















    i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
     

    Feedback

    If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
     Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
    Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

    Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


    Your Recent History

     (What's this?)

    After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.