These are terrific lists, I've learned a ton from them and haven't yet gotten further than halfway through either.
But I submit that the politics of the United States of America are every bit as complicated as software. We have _one_ fundamental problem, and that related to the TV ads? Um, how likely is it that so broad and general a statement about software development would be true, never mind helpful?
We will not understand our country's politics until we give them the same attention we give our profession. We shouldn't be silent before we've checklisted some reading list -- but maybe we ought to speak as if perhaps this is a big and complicated system about which we have a lot to learn.
There are plenty of complex systems with complex problems but deceptively simple solutions. Those solutions might be difficult to implement, and might have nasty little details, but they're still simple enough to sum up in one sentence. For example, back in 1911, the problem was "monopolies", and the answer was "regulate the maximum size of a corporate entity."
I'm not saying that this particular problem has a simple solution. I'm saying that we shouldn't throw out ideas because they seem too simple. And, of course, the more angles we have on the problem, the better.
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FogCreekMBACurriculum...
And, an old Joel Spolsky reading list on programming:
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/navlinks/fog0000000262.html
These are terrific lists, I've learned a ton from them and haven't yet gotten further than halfway through either.
But I submit that the politics of the United States of America are every bit as complicated as software. We have _one_ fundamental problem, and that related to the TV ads? Um, how likely is it that so broad and general a statement about software development would be true, never mind helpful?
We will not understand our country's politics until we give them the same attention we give our profession. We shouldn't be silent before we've checklisted some reading list -- but maybe we ought to speak as if perhaps this is a big and complicated system about which we have a lot to learn.