Recommendations you can check.
Software developer; co-founder of Stack Overflow and Fog Creek Software, and author of the Joel on Software blog.
5 things
No Silver BulletOther Frederick P. Brooks
It's probably because we read No Silver Bullet, a stunningly important essay from way back in 1986, by Frederick P. Brooks (he of Mythical Man-Month) that has proven again and again to be spot-on.
A book review of Beyond Java that opens by explaining why he trusts Brooks's 1986 essay.
2006-10-12·joelonsoftware.com ↗
Don't Make Me ThinkBook Steve Krug
Steve Krug has written a follow up to his usability classic Don't Make Me Think.
A short post flagging Steve Krug's new usability book.
2010-01-25·joelonsoftware.com ↗
The Founder's DilemmasBook Noam Wasserman
Wasserman has finally put it all together in a great book called The Founder's Dilemmas, which I highly recommend if you're starting a company.
A short post about Noam Wasserman's quantitative research on startup founders.
2012-03-27·joelonsoftware.com ↗
Rocket Surgery Made EasyBook Steve Krug
The sequel, Rocket Surgery Made Easy, is a terrific, short, concise, fun guide to running simple "hallway" usability tests to improve the usability of your software and websites. Highly recommended.
A short post flagging Steve Krug's new usability book.
2010-01-25·joelonsoftware.com ↗
NewsBlurSoftware
If you want to know when I publish something new, I recommend getting an RSS reader like NewsBlur and subscribing to my RSS feed.
The standing 'Subscribe!' blurb that runs under every Joel on Software post, here on his Rocket Surgery Made Easy post.
2010-01-25·joelonsoftware.com ↗
Every entry is a verbatim quote and a link to the public post it came from. Nothing is paraphrased. If it is not on record somewhere public, it is not here.
The verdict is what they actually said: loved and liked are explicit; recommended means they told others to get it; uses means they only say they use it; read is a book on their public shelf with no verdict; mixed and disliked are kept too.
A dashed affiliate link, sponsored or their own label means the post disclosed a relationship. It is shown, never hidden.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is for its kind of thing.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is, for its kind of thing. Fully green is recent. It drains a quarter at a time as the post gets older, and is empty once it reads as dated.
What counts as old depends on the thing. A laptop praised four years ago has been replaced twice; a book loved twenty years ago is probably still loved. The shading is gone after about:
Stripes mean the post carries no date and the date shown is an estimate. No date at all, no shading.