Selected and Introduced by Joel Spolsky

In this book, Joel Spolsky, a veteran software professional and author, presents 29 articles, which he feel represents the best of software writing during the period 2003-2004. Joel’s goal in bringing out this collection is to encourage software professionals to write better and to teach them how to write things that people want to read. Out of the 29, two are comic strips, one is a chapter from the programming guide of Ruby, and remaining 26 are articles on topics ranging from programming style to software outsourcing. Each chapter is introduced by Joel, but the introductions do not add much value except in the case of a few articles.

All the articles in the book are from the web, mostly from blogs of the respective authors. The usefulness of this collection is that you get introduced to many good authors and their blogs. When the articles are available on the web, one wonders why it should be made into a book. Since the articles are available online (see the list by Neil Kandalgaonkar) the editor could have included more authors rather than including multiple articles by same authors. This would have given opportunity for a few other authors.

In the article introductions, Joel does not always give his reasons for selecting the article, which would have given more insight to the reader what to look for from the “learning to write better” viewpoint. The editor could have included a chapter on what in his opinion makes good writing with a few examples rather than the very general “writing that is engaging because it is funny, clear or important and writing that draws you in and is captivating…” on the back cover. He could also have given some practical advice, based on his experience, on how a software professional should tackle the task of improving his or her writing and communication skills.

The editor also could have used a few pages to provide links to articles he had considered but had to omit. I am sure there must be many articles that deserve a link. This would have added more value to the book.

Joel has completely omitted the print media. There are excellent articles in various technical journal and magazines. Also there are many good books from which sample material could have been included. The editor does not offer any explanation why he has totally avoided the print media. Are we to believe that good software writing happens only on the Web? At least he could have included a list of articles and books which he considers good.

In conclusion, The Best Software Writing I, does not fully deliver what it had set out to do. The intentions were good, but the execution falters at many places. But this book is a good starting point. Good writing requires good reading–reading well written material. Most of the material in the book makes excellent reading. But the selection of the material of the book entirely from the web prevents it from being a true representation of the best software writing of 2003-2004 and makes it less appealing.

Book Details:

• Editor: Joel Spolsky
• Publisher: Apress
• Edition & Year: First, 2005
• ISBN: 1590595009
• Cover & Page Count: Paperback: 328 pages

You can order online at Amazon.