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The Psychology of Computer Programming: Silver Anniversary Edition

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The Psychology of Computer Programming: Silver Anniversary Edition (Paperback)

by Gerald M. Weinberg (Author)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

Paperback: 292 pages
Publisher: Dorset House Publishing Co Inc.,U.S.; Silver anniversary ed edition (29 April 1998)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0932633420
ISBN-13: 978-0932633422
Product Dimensions: 22.4 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 205,909 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Synopsis

The first edition has been continuously in print since 1971, and here software engineer Weinberg leaves the original text and adds a new preface and commentary on each chapter. He describes computer programming as human performance, a social activity, and an individual activity and describes some programming. The language is kept to a minimum techn

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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent insight into becoming a better programmer, 8 Jan 2001

By	brian@portlock.demon.co.uk (Manchester, England) - See all my reviews

I read this book fifteen years ago and it changed the way I wrote programs. I do not have any doubts that reading this book made me a better programmer, analyst and team leader. It made me think about what I was doing, why I was doing it and why the people around me were motivated to do what they did. It gave me insights into how to adjust my interactions with other people and thus get the best out of them with their willing cooperation.

Originally I borrowed it from the University library, but this recent reprint gave me the chance to buy my own copy and reread it with fifteen years more experience. It is still a very good read, in spite of the rather dry title. It is well written with clear arguments and Weinberg does not pull his punches.

The book was written in 1971 and as a result the technology is very dated with a lot of discussion about PL/1 and punched cards. However, the technology is not actually that important. This book is about people and they have not changed in the thirty years since this book was written. Many of the same situations outlined by Weinberg have happened to me and people I know. The questions for managers and programmers at the end of each chapter are still totally relevant. People are still making the same mistakes.

Each chapter contains a large number of anecdotes and an analysis of them. What did the people do wrong? What did they do right? What should they have done differently? Most importantly - what can you learn to stop yourself making the same mistakes? What warning signs should you be on the lookout for?

The book studies programming as a human activity, as a social activity and as an individual activity. There is also an additional section on programming tools and languages. Weinberg strongly promotes what he calls "ego-less programming" and recommends the creation of ego-less programming teams and groups. He offers strong evidence that groups structured in this fashion are significantly more successful than otherwise and my experience to date bears this out.

So, what do I dislike about this book? It contains a few diagrams and the reproduction quality of them is no better than "fair". Furthermore, although the epilogue gives some insight into why the author wrote the book I found one of his reasons vague and slightly suspect with a strong aftertaste of personal morality that has no place in such a book. If you want to know more, you'll have to read the book!

Finally I will let you consider the comments of a reviewer of the first edition of this book. He said "One comes away with the feeling of having spent a pleasant but somewhat wasted afternoon of reading and as the old joke goes '...it ain't till you turn your head that you realise how sharp the razor is..'".

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just a fantastic read, 8 Jul 2003

By	Mr. Keith Sterling "keiff" (London, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

See how little the industry has really changed in the past 10 or 15 years.

We may be all XP and UML today, and not SSADM and JSP, and Java and .NET rather than Cobol and Fortran, but the same problems exist and the same mistakes are still being made

Read it and then reflect, it certainly makes you think about IT

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Technical progress is illusion, 26 Jul 2009

By	Kerola Sami (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This is surreal book. After almost forty years not much has hanged. Some details are a bit outdated, but mostly the book is as relevant as it must have been at the time of writing. The book is worth of reading for two reasons. Firstly anyone who is computer professional should be aware of history, and the book is piece of living history of the computer science & engineering. Secondly the book gives comfort. Problems of programming have been known for long time, but there are ways how to live with the problems and such ideas are almost as old as problems.

George Santayana; 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it'. Unfortunately this book (like so many other excellent books) has not teach most of computer professionals and that's why the whole industry is in endless repeat loop.

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