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Product Description
Our civilization runs on software. Yet the art of creating it continues to be a dark mystery, even to the experts. To find out why it’s so hard to bend computers to our will, Scott Rosenberg spent three years following a team of maverick software developers—led by Lotus 1-2-3 creator Mitch Kapor—designing a novel personal information manager meant to challenge market leader Microsoft Outlook. Their story takes us through a maze of abrupt
dead ends and exhilarating breakthroughs as they wrestle not only with the abstraction of code, but with the unpredictability of human behavior— especially their own.
dead ends and exhilarating breakthroughs as they wrestle not only with the abstraction of code, but with the unpredictability of human behavior— especially their own.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is an extremely well-written book which is entertaining and easy to read. It's almost defining a new genre; rather than saying anything new to software practitioners, it reads like a popular science book. In a sense, this is like an episode of Horizon telling you why software is hard.
And fundamentally, this is what the book says; it says, despite the best intentions of all involved, software is hard. It says this at the start, it says it at the end, and it says it in the middle. If you're in the industry, you won't find any new revelations here; if you haven't done so already, go and read "The Mythical Man-Month" for the lowdown on exactly why it's so hard.
The book is written without finger-pointing, and that is its second greatest weakness. Scott Rosenberg decries how the software industry falls short of holding inquests into its failures, but then stops short of doing so himself. He hints that changing requirements are a Bad Thing, but doesn't challenge Chandler's design or technology choices, despite the fact that these are clearly contributing factors to the immense slippage.
Overall, entertaining, light and fluffy - just don't expect it to tell you anything you don't already know.
And fundamentally, this is what the book says; it says, despite the best intentions of all involved, software is hard. It says this at the start, it says it at the end, and it says it in the middle. If you're in the industry, you won't find any new revelations here; if you haven't done so already, go and read "The Mythical Man-Month" for the lowdown on exactly why it's so hard.
The book is written without finger-pointing, and that is its second greatest weakness. Scott Rosenberg decries how the software industry falls short of holding inquests into its failures, but then stops short of doing so himself. He hints that changing requirements are a Bad Thing, but doesn't challenge Chandler's design or technology choices, despite the fact that these are clearly contributing factors to the immense slippage.
Overall, entertaining, light and fluffy - just don't expect it to tell you anything you don't already know.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Books on software and project management are by and large a dry bunch. This book most definitely isn't in that category. It is entertaining and engaging from start to finish. And written in an intelligent style that could to be admired for its own sake, but also well researched and illustrated with very well chosen quotes and examples. I was very impressed.
It covers the development of Chandler from the initial concept through the design and prototype stages and towards the first working releases. It details the dead-ends and false starts that characterise many large projects and tries to explain how they happened.
Along the way Scott explains a lot of the details of software design and development and its history in a clear and non-technical style. Definitely holding the "intelligent laymen" in mind he has written some very concise and readable descriptions of some fairly complex topics. Along the way he introduces some thought provoking points and even managed to clarify a few concepts that I thought I already understood (and I've 20 years of experience in programming!)
It covers the development of Chandler from the initial concept through the design and prototype stages and towards the first working releases. It details the dead-ends and false starts that characterise many large projects and tries to explain how they happened.
Along the way Scott explains a lot of the details of software design and development and its history in a clear and non-technical style. Definitely holding the "intelligent laymen" in mind he has written some very concise and readable descriptions of some fairly complex topics. Along the way he introduces some thought provoking points and even managed to clarify a few concepts that I thought I already understood (and I've 20 years of experience in programming!)
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The story this book tells would be funny if it weren't so tragic. It's the sad tale of a piece of software - started in 2002 - that STILL is very, very far from finished.
I purchased the book because I was (briefly!!!) interested in the software - a Personal Information Manager called Chandler (you can go to chandler.org and download it yourself, if you have some time to waste.)
I read the book with a growing sense of disbelief - HOW many programmers? And some of them FAMOUS??? HOW much money?? HOW long??? And the software is STILL (sorry) a non-functioning piece of junk??
More than anything else, I was reminded of the movie 'Spinal Tap'... People who (to judge by this particular project) appear incompetent, talking like they are the source of all knowledge on the subject.
If anything this book is a manual on how NOT to undertake a software project. Personally, I suspect that one single programmer, working in his spare time, could have produced a better program than Chandler, and reading this book only reinforced that belief.
The failure of Chandler, of course, is not the author's fault. It's very clear that he's on the side of the programmers and their managers, and as the book closes you can sense his own sadness (tinged with disbelief) that he has to finish with no ending to his story.
However, I've deducted a few stars because he sometimes wanders so far from the central story, sometimes for several chapters. We're given long essays on why software is 'hard', before returning to the Chandler story - and then the book almost disproves its own argument by ending with an example of how a single motivated programmer can make it look easy!
A cautionary tale on why software should not be written by committee.
I purchased the book because I was (briefly!!!) interested in the software - a Personal Information Manager called Chandler (you can go to chandler.org and download it yourself, if you have some time to waste.)
I read the book with a growing sense of disbelief - HOW many programmers? And some of them FAMOUS??? HOW much money?? HOW long??? And the software is STILL (sorry) a non-functioning piece of junk??
More than anything else, I was reminded of the movie 'Spinal Tap'... People who (to judge by this particular project) appear incompetent, talking like they are the source of all knowledge on the subject.
If anything this book is a manual on how NOT to undertake a software project. Personally, I suspect that one single programmer, working in his spare time, could have produced a better program than Chandler, and reading this book only reinforced that belief.
The failure of Chandler, of course, is not the author's fault. It's very clear that he's on the side of the programmers and their managers, and as the book closes you can sense his own sadness (tinged with disbelief) that he has to finish with no ending to his story.
However, I've deducted a few stars because he sometimes wanders so far from the central story, sometimes for several chapters. We're given long essays on why software is 'hard', before returning to the Chandler story - and then the book almost disproves its own argument by ending with an example of how a single motivated programmer can make it look easy!
A cautionary tale on why software should not be written by committee.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An Excellent Book for people who want to know more about programming
An interesting book that tells eg. project managers a lot about software projects. Lots of info about the history of programming, but not dry and dull. Read more
Published 13 months ago by NotaGeek
The case against open source - unfortunately
While trying to write a review on Amazon I struggled with whether to give it 0, 3 or 5 stars, let me explain
First the book is about the development of Chanlder, a next... Read more
First the book is about the development of Chanlder, a next... Read more
Published on 4 Nov 2008 by Mr. Keith Sterling
A fascinating insight into open source software development
I was very impressed by this book; it offers a fascinating insight into the trials and tribulations of developing a complex open source system. Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2007 by James Bray
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