Recommended Reading

After many years in the academy, on both sides of the blackboard, the Mole made the leap into the so-called real world, i.e., for-profit corporate employment. Many of the Mole's cherished preconceptions were quickly tossed aside; some were more easily replaced than others. This article helped to explain the massive gulf between everything the Mole had ever learned or taught about how to program and the state of the legacy systems he had on his hands.

This is an essay that the Mole rereads fairly regularly. The experience is always unnerving: some parts are obviously right, some are obviously wrong, but which category any particular part falls into is seldom the same from one reading to the next. Regardless of which side of the debate you choose (or, if you are like the Mole, both and neither) the issues are well worth considering.

Richard Gabriel seems to be an example of a very particular type, the frustrated LISPer. The Mole finds the type quite fascinating: they're very smart, quite provocative, absolutely fascinating, and just faintly askew. Other notable examples include Paul Graham and Peter Seibel.

If you have anything at all to do with software development projects and haven't read this one you should be very, very embarassed.

Before there was Peopleware, there was The Psychology of Computer Programming. Nothing ages perfectly, but only the small-minded will focus on the thoughts that betray their age and miss the overall insightfulness of this book.

This is clearly where you have to start if you have anything to do with software development management. A great many people who know a lot more than the Mole and have a lot more "cred" have given this book ringing endorsements.

After you have read it, find out if you manager has read it. If he or she has not, give him or her a copy. Then hold him or her accountable for walking the talk. A manager who groks this book will not be afraid to be challenged on that score; you don't want to work for any other kind.