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Geoffrey James
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The Zen of Programming Paperback – January 1, 1988

by Geoffrey James (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 13 ratings
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Book by James, Geoffrey
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  1. Print length
    128 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Info Books
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1988
  5. Dimensions
    4.25 x 0.5 x 7.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0931137098
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0931137099
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Info Books; First Edition (January 1, 1988)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0931137098
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0931137099
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.25 x 0.5 x 7.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 13 ratings

About the author

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Geoffrey James

Geoffrey James

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GEOFFREY JAMES is the author of 9 books, including the widely-praised Business Wisdom of the Electronic Elite (which was translated into 7 languages and won 3 book club awards) and the classic book of computer humor, The Tao of Programming.

Since 2007, Geoffrey has written a daily blog about sales, marketing and success that has appeared on BNET, CBSi and currently on Inc.com. His blog has won two prestigious journalism awards and regularly receives over 1 million pageviews a month.

Prior to this, Geoffrey wrote articles for magazines like Upside, Computerworld, Wired and Red Herring, and was an industry analyst, marketing manager and system architect inside several high tech firms.

Geoffrey's most recent book, Business Without the Bullsh*t, a collection of secrets and shortcuts to help workers and line managers achieve success and career security, despite the general insanity of corporate life.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
13 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Matt Kern
5.0 out of 5 stars The sound of one hand clapping
Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2009
Verified Purchase
I love this book. However, you have to have lived through a certain era to understand it well. If you are reading this like a text looking for the lost wisdom of the masters- forget it!

For all of us who mastered more than three assembly languages and learned to code as well as understand the peripheral registers- this is the darned best book about the way it all was. If you ever sat at the trade show as the beanie guy with the propeller while the marketers sang and the demo dollies danced, then the whole crew hushed when a visitor knew enough to ask you a simple tech question-- you are going to love this book. If you read a chapther and laugh, and imagine when you or your friend so_and_so did exactly what was described, then you are the audience. If you pick it up and just don't start smiling or laughing, put it back down and walk away. It is like a full length location joke: you had to be there.
7 people found this helpful
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Sashidhar Kokku
4.0 out of 5 stars I've been enlightened......a bit.
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2004
The sequel to "The Tao of programming"....proved to be more of the read a line .. think about it for the next day or so type. It had awesome words of wisdom...it tells you stuff like....there is something called "ultimate" in programming too and to reach there...you should have a,b,c.

Overall...the author starts off good...but starts racing towards the end...more in a hurry to complete the book. The funny paret is that when the author tries to race towards the end, he shoots of awesome quotes...that are really worth to remember while using them in everyday life.
2 people found this helpful
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George Marselis
5.0 out of 5 stars Thus spoke Master Turing:
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2005
If you think there are no differences between programming languages, you are not enlightened.

If you are not a believer, use COBOL to implement black and red trees.

If you don't understand what was just said, you belong with management.

Buddha be praised.
4 people found this helpful
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Hussein Nasser
3.0 out of 5 stars If you are looking Zen programming method this is not what you want
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2009
Verified Purchase
This book basically collects a list of wisdom from previous so-called "Master" Programmers and put into one book.
But what I loved the most is the Introduction

If you are looking for a way or a method for better programming this is NOT the book you want, get Zen and the Art of System Analysis. There is no approach here or method. Its just list of past "stories" collected in a book as I said.

Its fun to read, I wouldn't say a piece of junk though
One person found this helpful
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Bruce Lowther
5.0 out of 5 stars 117 pages of pure Truth
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2002
I bought this book back in 1990 when I was working on my BSCS. I read it while reading the Mythical Man Month, and saw quite a few correlations between the two. It has sat within reach for 12 years. The parables and pearls of wisdom are timeless. I have frequently read from this book and identified things that are going on in my company. I'm sure Scott Adams has read this book.
7 people found this helpful
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Brian Allred
1.0 out of 5 stars Swing and a miss
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2016
There is nothing new to learn. Not worth the time to read.
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Richard Threadgill
5.0 out of 5 stars The tasks which can be named are not the true tasks.
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2001
With the other two books in this series, James does an excellent job of conveying many of the lessons of large software project management and software design in a series of short, accessible anecdotes which can be easily digested by someone who is just coming to the field, or who doesn't have the time and focus to really digest Brooks ("The Mythical Man-month") or Demarco/Lister ("Peopleware"). This set is concise and to-the-point, and a must have for the new project manager or project lead.
6 people found this helpful
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K. Low
1.0 out of 5 stars Zen of programming is a piece of junk
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2005
This book is not what I expected and certainly not worth $10. The stuff in the book is not even funny or insightful. Big block letter to fill up 100 pages of paper. What a waste of paper. There is nothing here other than stuff I already know like there is no difference between programming languages, etc. I decided to return it.
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Top reviews from other countries

jeteve
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 16, 2016
Verified Purchase
The only problem with this book is that it's too short.
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