Wordyard

Hand-forged posts since 2002

Scott Rosenberg

  • About
  • Greatest hits

Archives

Wordyard / Code Reads / Announcing Code Reads — a weekly reading and discussion about making software

Announcing Code Reads — a weekly reading and discussion about making software

September 26, 2006 by Scott Rosenberg 10 Comments

Code ReadsDuring the years I spent researching Dreaming in Code, I accumulated a veritable mountain of reading material on the topic of software development, the history of programming, project management and so on. (I even read much, though certainly not all, of it!) There is, plainly, a core set of books, documents and texts that trace the evolution of this subject; I also gathered some unusual obscurities and overlooked offshoots.

Only a small fraction of this material made its way into Dreaming in Code itself, which is a narrative tale of the ups and downs of one project, set in the context of the longer history of the field. I’ve been trying to figure out a good way to share my discoveries, spark some interesting discussion and contribute a lasting resource to the Web based on the work I’ve already done and the reading I continue to do.

Here’s my plan: Every week I’m going to announce a topic — usually, a text or document, in many cases easily accessible online; a week later, I’ll post some thoughts, notes and ideas about the topic, and open the floor in comments for you to throw your two cents in. If all goes well, together we’ll build a handy annotated reading list for curious developers and interested outsiders — and maybe have some fun along the way.

I’m calling this impromptu, informal reading group Code Reads — mostly because we’re reading about code and coding, and also because I like the idea that the phrase induces the slightest hesitation in the reader’s mind (How do you pronounce it — like “code reeds” or “code reds”?), and I’m mischievously pleased to invoke that kind of ambiguity in a conversation about a field that abhors ambiguity.

So: Join me for Code Reads. Here, every Monday.

I’m planning to kick things off next week with some observations about Frederick Brooks’s The Mythical Man-Month — the book that, for me and I think many other students of this subject, really started it all. You’re invited. You don’t have to be a programmer (I’m not one, myself, though I’ve played at being one in previous phases of my life). You just have to be interested in the question that I ask in Dreaming in Code: Why is good software still so hard to make?

Joel Spolsky says that most programmers don’t read much at all: “The majority of developers don’t read books about software development, they don’t read Web sites about software development, they don’t even read Slashdot.”

He might be right. Then again, in my work I’ve encountered many, many developers who are fanatically curious about everything under the sun, emphatically including the history and nature of their own field. I’m thinking some of them might enjoy having this conversation with one another, and with the rest of us.
[tags]dreaming in code, programming, software development[/tags]

Post Revisions:

There are no revisions for this post.

Filed Under: Code Reads, Software

Comments

  1. Thomas Holloway

    May 22, 2008 at 10:34 am

    Dreaming in Code was and still is my favorite book. I’m excited to see these posts.

Trackbacks

  1. JavaSPEKTRUM Blogosphäre » Blog Archiv » Blogosphäre (aus JavaSPEKTRUM 01/07) says:
    January 18, 2007 at 11:54 pm

    […] Eine der interessanten Entdeckungen der letzten Monate war für mich persönlich ein Projekt, das Scott Rosenberg unter dem Namen “Code Reads” gestartet hat — und das, obwohl es sich überhaupt nicht mit aktuellen Dingen beschäftigt. Rosenberg kommentiert Veröffentlichungen, die als Meilensteine in der Geeschichte der Informatik gelten. Zu den ersten Einträgen zählen Frederick Brooks’ “The Mythical Man-Month” (aus dem Jahre 1975), verschiedene Essays von Edsger Dijkstras (u.a. “Go To Statement Considered Harmful” von 1968) und Mitch Kapors “Software Design Manifesto”. Hochinteressant, zum Einen, weil man feststellt, dass vieles in Wahrheit gar nicht so geschrieben wurde, wie es immer kolportiert wird, zum Anderen, weil sich — insbesondere bei der Lektüre von Brooks — das Gefühl einstellt, dass die Probleme von heute (und teilweise auch deren Lösungen!) seien schon vor mehr als 30 Jahren bekannt waren … […]

  2. Scott Rosenberg’s Wordyard » Blog Archive » Code Reads #9: John Backus, “Can Programming Be Liberated…?” says:
    May 21, 2007 at 10:19 pm

    […] is the ninth edition of Code Reads, a series of discussions of some of the central essays, documents and texts in the history of […]

  3. Scott Rosenberg’s Wordyard » Blog Archive » Code Reads #10: Guy Steele, “Growing a Language” says:
    June 12, 2007 at 8:14 am

    […] is the tenth edition of Code Reads, a series of discussions of some of the central essays, documents and texts in the history of […]

  4. Scott Rosenberg’s Wordyard » Blog Archive » Code Reads #11: “Notes on Postmodern Programming” says:
    July 3, 2007 at 6:31 am

    […] is the eleventh edition of Code Reads, a series of discussions of some of the central essays, documents and texts in the history of […]

  5. Scott Rosenberg’s Wordyard » Blog Archive » Code Reads #12: “Big Ball of Mud” says:
    September 16, 2007 at 8:24 pm

    […] is the twelfth edition of Code Reads, a series of discussions of some of the central essays, documents and texts in the history of […]

  6. Scott Rosenberg’s Wordyard » Blog Archive » Code Reads #13: “The Inevitable Pain of Software Development” says:
    October 31, 2007 at 2:31 pm

    […] is the thirteenth edition of Code Reads, a series of discussions of some of the central essays, documents and texts in the history of […]

  7. Jarrett House North » Blog Archive » Around the ’sphere: Thank U says:
    April 29, 2008 at 8:13 am

    […] to Scott Rosenberg for a fascinating series on key written works that have influenced programming culture. I had never heard of Edsger […]

  8. Jarretthousenorth.com » Blog Archive » Around the ’sphere: Thank U says:
    May 3, 2008 at 10:04 am

    […] to Scott Rosenberg for a fascinating series on key written works that have influenced programming culture. I had never heard of Edsger […]

  9. Code Reads #1: The Mythical Man-Month — Scott Rosenberg's Wordyard says:
    March 28, 2012 at 10:52 am

    […] is the inaugural edition of Code Reads, a weekly discussion of some of the central essays, documents and texts in the history of software. […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *