Wahanda TechBlog

I’ve just finished re-reading Scott Rosenberg’s wonderful book Dreaming in Code, detailing the apparent disaster that unfolded at the Open Source Applications Foundation when they were building Chandler.

It reminded me of how good is to read about the how and what of our role as technology professionals, so I thought I would post some of my favourite technology books. If you haven’t read any of the following then I recommend that you do.

Dreaming in Code

Chandler was one of those projects that everyone dreams of working on. Total blue sky development, plenty of funding, no fixed deadlines and a great team. As an outsider to the project Scott Rosenberg’s telling of the story is a great read with lots of reflections on the industry as a whole interspersed to really make you think.

If you don’t find yourself shouting “Don’t do that!” at the protagonists a few times then you’ve not worked on enough projects (or have been lucky enough to only work on good ones!).

The Soul of a New Machine

Tracy Kidders Pulitzer winning book follows the project at Data General to build a 32-bit Mini Computer called the MV/8000. It show the incredible dynamic of building a team who cast themselves as against the world. Another team in the same company is working on a project which rings like the Chandler team (too much time/money/over-ambition) and a group of mostly young graduates are fighting to prove they can build something better. Really gripping.

Microserfs

Ok, this book isn’t a pure technology type book but it is the one that made me want to be a programmer. It follows the adventures of some ex-Microsoft programmers who start a games company. It really gives you a feel of what working at a startup can be like (my career has been startups pretty much all the way). Douglas Coupland spent a good amount of time hanging out with programmers before writing this and it shows.

Founders at Work

This is a collection of interviews with technology founders from a very wide span of time, from proper old skool (Steve Wozniak) to some of the Web 2.0 darlings. A few years old so there’s no Zuckerberg or Biz Stone but so filled with truisms about being in early stage companies it is a must-read.

There is a companion book Coders at Work which I’m not so fond of. I think it shows that I’m not a true programmer at heart. Don’t tell anyone (although my team knows already I think).

Joel on Software

I’ve been a big fan of Joel since the early days of his blog JoelOnSoftware. His musings on both the building of software and the work culture that comes with it is invaluable in understanding our discipline. You can read all his articles online but the book is still recommended.

Hackers and Painters

As with Joel this is another collection of online posts, this time from Paul Graham, one of the founders of ViaWeb (which later became Yahoo! Stores). I don’t agree with everything he says (especially when it comes to Lisp vs every other language ever invented) but he really does know what he’s talking about. I’m a big believer in development as craft and through experience have become pretty anti-corporate. This is a point of view very much espoused by Paul and his book will definitely make you think.

Don’t make me think

I haven’t actually read this but our primary web developer Chris says it’s really good. Chris also likes scandinavian metal though so…

The Mythical Man Month

Ok, I’ll be honest. I haven’t read this. But it is quoted so often I fell like I’ve assimilated the main premise of the book anyway. Adding programmers to a late project makes it later. And you can’t make a baby in a month if you use 9 women. Something like that. Please feel free to throw mud in my direction if I’ve missed the point and I promise I’ll get a copy and read it.