As the founder of fog creek software in new york city, he created fogbugz. For my day job, im the cofounder and ceo of stack overflow, the largest online community for programmers to learn, share their knowledge, and level up. This is my personal site where i drop notes and articles about things that i am. User interface design for programmers apress, 2001 and joel on software apress, 2004.
Achieving this efficiency was one of the highest values of computer programmers, and the best programs were often called elegant, a. If there is one ui design book to read, dont make me think is it. User interface design for programmers avram joel spolsky. May 02, 2006 joel spolsky has a book on user interface design. Last week, joel joel on software spolsky wrote an article arguing that theres not much of a business case for developing mac software. Originally published in 2001, this book introduces principles of ui design that are still true today using awkwardly oldfashioned. Ux for beginners is broken into one hundred short, illustrated lessons, a userfriendly approach that makes learning fun and gives you the foundation you need to succeed as a ux designer.
Containing a collection of allnew articles from the original, more joel on software has even more of an edge than the original, and the tips for running a business or managing people have far. First published in 2004, joel on software contains 45 of the best articles from the site, from the early rants about hitandrun management to the 2004 classic how microsoft lost the api war, and everything in between. Taming wild software development schedules, which isnt just longwinded and vaguely ridiculous, its also an unfortunate misnomer rapid development isnt about rapid development. Joel is a spectacular pragmatist and software business owner with deep knowledge of microsoft technologies. The book is directed, as the title indicates, at a variety of different people, from pure coders to codeless managers, but mostly people who are somewhere in between. As an independent, privatelyowned company, weve been making customers happy since the turn of the century. User interface design for programmers paperback by joel spolsky. This article is a draft your comments are especially welcome as i think through these issues.
Shockingly, neither of the two best uiux books for engineers are even mentioned here. I also founded fog creek software, one of the most influential small tech companies in the world. He is the author of joel on software, a blog on software development, and the creator of the project management software trello. Software developers involved in the industry during the 1970s had severe limitations on disk space and memory. Most of the hard core c programmers i know hate user interface programming. Every byte and clock cycle was taken into account, and much work went into fitting the programs into available resources. Most programmers see themselves as analytic, logical thinkers insteadstrong at reasoning, weak on artistic judgment, and incapable of doing ui design. Im joel spolsky, a software developer in new york city. Aug 14, 2017 the book is a little dated as far as methodologies go, but is still a mustread book for every serious software developer. He later founded fog creek software in 2000 and launched the joel on. Youre reading joel on software, stuffed with years and years of completely raving mad articles about software development, managing software teams, designing user interfaces, running successful software companies, and rubber duckies. Musings on software, business, and life from a skilled virtual assistant. We share what weve learned about how to make great software, both by writing about our ideas and by creating products, like fogbugz, trello and gomix, that help others make great technology. User interface design for programmers, book by avram joel.
User interface design for programmers by joel spolsky goodreads. Another book that might be useful is peter seibels coders at work. User interface design for programmers by joel spolsky. I assume you dont need instructions for how to make a menu bar. Its an excellent way to read the site in the bath, or throw it at your boss.
It is about designing software for real users it wont teach you how to create. Thoughts on joel spolskys user interface design for. This book could also be called user interface annoyances or the dummys guide to irritating your users. Joels obvious experience saturates every page i gather he did the ui for the isp juno, and was on the microsoft excel team. Oct 14, 2016 to my opinion, after much thought and practice, ui design is very much a shell to everything thats preceeding it on the timeline. Joel lopez senior software engineer product designer. View joel lopezs profile on linkedin, the worlds largest professional community. They are separate roles that often get merged into one. Two of the computer industrys most popular authors and lecturers return with a new edition of the software management book that started a revolution. Spolsky formerly worked for microsoft developing windows software his argument boils down to something like this. User interface design for programmers springerlink. As someone who is deeply entrenched in ongoings of the ground floor on a daily basis, my goal is to increase comprehensive understanding of the strengths of the team in order to capitalize on their skills and strategically allocate tasks appropriately in order to maximize quality standards and delivery dates. It has gone through ten printings and remains a bestseller today. It is a collection of interviews with prominent software engineers like jamie zawinsky, douglas crockford, joe armstrong, ken thompson, etc in which they describe how they work and what it feels like subjectively for them to write code.
User interface design for programmers is clear, accessible, and engaging. I am convinced one of joel spolskys lasting contributions to the field of managing software teams will turn out to be the joel test, a checklist of 12 essential practices that you could use to rate the effectiveness of a software product development team. The ultimate list of 24 free ebooks on ux and interface design. I recommend checking out the other articles he wrote, theres a lot of truth about software development. Apr 21, 2005 joel is always to the point, you read the book with one breath its very easy to read and amusing. Looking for books about software engineering as a field. Essential books for user interface designers share and enjoy. It makes the case for usercentered design and offers good rules of thumb to achieve such designs. Its based on the online book but its longer, with about 50% allnew material that isnt available online. Joel on software covers every conceivable aspect of software programmingfrom the best way to write code, to the best way to design an office in which to write code. If the ui is smart and things work the way the user expected them to work, they will be cheerful as they manage to accomplish small goals. The summary for the years 20002010 can be found on the joel on software summary index page. Ive just finished reading a book from joel spolsky called ui design for programmers. The best books all software developers should read.
User interface design for programmers avram joel spolsky apress. This is a summary for the blog by joel spolsky, joel on software, volume 2000. See the complete profile on linkedin and discover joels. Xsplit for recording streams and overlaying images and videos vinesauce rom corruptor.
Once you learn how to communicate with users through software, its inevitable that all your. He was a program manager on the microsoft excel team between 1991 and 1994. I can recommend this book to anybody working in software development, no matter what you are doing as long as you are doing something. Joel spolsky is a globally recognized expert on the software development process. Joel holds a bachelors of science degree in computer science from yale university. Originally published in 2001, this book introduces principles of ui design that are. The best books all software developers should read simple. Sep 10, 2008 this article is a draft your comments are especially welcome as i think through these issues. Before college, he served in the israeli defense forces as a paratrooper, and he was one of the founders of kibbutz hanaton. A handbook of agile software craftsmanship this is one of my alltime favorite books, written by one of my favorite mentors in the software development industry, bob martin uncle bob. In this brilliantly readable book, author joel spolsky proposes simple, logical rules that can be applied without any artistic talent to improve any user interface. They think that ui design is like graphic design the mysterious process by which creative, lattedrinking, allblackwearing people produce coollooking, artistic pieces. In a nutshell, ux principles are the foundation for how your users interact with your product and ui is the actual interface they engage with.
Introducing new learning courses and educational videos from apress. Joel spolsky is a software engineer, writer and entrepreneur. Designing a user experience requires a combination of computer science skills and an artistic eye. A good book for me would have to be strong in these points. So too a ui designer maps representations to particular groups, and they can do this even if they know the underlying code. View joel kotarskis profile on linkedin, the worlds largest professional community. With the success of joel on software, there has been a strong demand for additional gems and advice, and this book is the answer to those requests. Jan 11, 2017 joel spolsky is a software engineer, writer and entrepreneur. Engineer and designer thursday, september 26, 2002 maybe im not getting it. Spolskys primary axiom, the importance of bringing the program model in line with the user model, is both rational and simple. It is also important to find a book, a blog or a course that is mesmerizing particularly to you, and easy to grasp with your specific background. Richter has nine chapters on jobs, processes, threads, and fibers. Try to cover ux as well as ui, capturing requirements, etc. To my opinion, after much thought and practice, ui design is very much a shell to everything thats preceeding it on the timeline.
Jan 29, 2005 joel on software is a book about several things. In this brilliantly readable book, author joel spolsky proposes simple, logical rules that can be applied without any artistic talent to improve any user interface, from traditional gui applications to websites to consumer electronics. Its no secret i love books when i am out running my 40 miles a week, its study hall time for me. Sebastian wagner wednesday, october 16, 2002 petzold is mostly about ui programming and has one chapter on multitaking and multithreading. Its fullcolor with glossy pages and scads of screen caps.
Hes also the name behind the joel on software blog, which consistently ranks top or top ten on software mustread lists. Thoughts on joel spolskys user interface design for programmers. Find books like joel on software from the worlds largest community of readers. Each month, more than 40 million professional and aspiring programmers visit stack overflow to ask and answer questions and find better jobs. Many of these articles have been collected into four books, available at your favorite bookstore. Avram joel spolsky born 1965 is a software engineer and writer. User interface and software engineers, or should it be.
The ultimate list of 24 free ebooks on ux and interface design will help you be a ux rockstar. Joel gennari though code is what makes software run, its user experience ux is what makes it a success. Here is a growing list of all the software and tools that joel has ever used on stream. All programmers, all people who want to enhance their knowledge of programmers, and all who are trying to manage programmers will surely relate to joels musings. Mar 21, 2010 this is a summary for the blog by joel spolsky, joel on software, volume 2000. He is the author of joel on software, a blog on software development, and the creator of the project.
And on diverse and occasionally related matters that. Not surprising, given that his company only develops for windows, and that mr. The vast majority of software development projects will fail. The goal of your software company is not to solve some specific problem, but to be able to convert money to code through programmers. Like joel, i bootstrapped a software company to similar size 25 employees. The user interface ui is what the product will look like colors, fonts, style guides and layouts. This book is based on the popular ux crash course blog at the hipper element, which. Goodreads members who liked joel on software also liked.
Books similar to joel on software joel on software. In this brilliantly readable book, author joel spolsky proposes simple, logical rules that can be applied without any artistic talent to improve any user interface, from traditional gui. User interface design for programmers freetechbooks. I spend a good eight hours a week reading books or rather, listening to the audio versions when im running or driving in a year, ill easily go through more than 50 books. The one to begin with, and probably the easier one to find, is alan coopers the inmates are running the asylum. A concise and logical introduction to ui design for geeks. Joels book is about more than software design and usercentricity. Most programmers fear of user interface ui programming comes from their fear of doing ui design.
What are the best books on uiux design for software. What are the best books on uiux design for software engineers. Probably inspired by opensource, joel published big part of the book online on his webpage here. Tweets that mention essential books for user interface. Joel spolkys book on ui design is a good primer for developers, but theres a lot more to it and thats where designers come into the picture. If the ui is wrong and the user feels like they cant control your software, they literally wont be happy and theyll blame it on your software. Joel spolskys user interface design for programmers is concise.
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