Feel like a geek and get yourself Ema Personal Wiki for Android and Windows

17 May 2010

Joel on software - a summary: 2009

This is a summary for the blog by Joel Spolsky, Joel on Software, volume 2007. The summary for the years 2000-2010 can be found on the Joel on Software summary index page.


To software developers applying to a small company: everything about your resume has to scream getting your own hands dirty. -- Blog post 2009/01/02.

If you can't think of anything to say, maybe you should just shut up. -- Blog post 2009/01/12.

Don't be fanatic about coding principles like TDD and SOLID, which can be bureaucratic and limiting. What really matters is, how quickly you can respond to real business needs with your code. -- From podcast 38.

Success is the product of a combination of factors that came together in precisely the right way at precisely the right time. Failure is often caused by a collapse of motivation to try and turn the dials to find success. -- Start-up static

Programmers should not report to the person who writes the specs (the program manager). To be effective, the program manager should have earned respect from the programmers. -- How to be a program manager.

Treating your customers well really does pay off. -- Why Circuit City Failed, and Why B&H Thrives

You won't get rich by selling gap-filler applications, because the platform with the gap will fill the gap itself if it's urgent. -- Blog post 2009/06/10.

Duct tape programmers prefer a shippable product over politically correct code. They tend to avoid cool technologies that are all totally reasonable, but are just a little bit too hard for the human brain. -- The Duct Tape Programmer.

It appears to be a permanent part of the human condition that long term deadlines without short term milestones are rarely met. -- Capstone projects and time management

If you want passionate users, your mission should be expressable as "We help $TYPE_OF_PERSON be awesome at $THING”. -- Figuring out what your company is all about

Slow growth may result in slow death if there happens to be a competitor that grows fast. -- Does Slow Growth Equal Slow Death?

Micromanagement is needed when somehow uncaring people are involved in a project. -- When and How to Micromanage

The minimum bar for a reliable service is not that you have done a backup, but that you have done a restore. -- Let's stop talking about "backups".

No comments: