Dreaming in code
Their story takes us through a maze of dead ends and exhilarating breakthroughs as they and their colleagues wrestle not only with the abstraction of code but with the unpredictability of human behavior, especially their own. Along the way, we encounter black holes, turtles, snakes, dragons, axe-sharpening, and yak-shaving--and take a guided tour through the theories and methods, both brilliant and misguided, that litter the history of software development, from the famous "mythical man-month" to Extreme Programming. Not just for technophiles but for anyone captivated by the drama of invention, Dreaming in Code offers a window into both the information age and the workings of the human mind.From the Hardcover edition.
Stats for nerds
48recommend
94mentions
75people
2007–2025years
65% recommend32% neutral3% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- > There are definitely incorrect language choices for certain projects.
There is an entire book about it which documents the problems in lavish detail, and it's generally hailed as a classic and a must-read.
- I became familiar with his work through "Dreaming in Code." If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend giving it a try. The writing style is lively and engaging—definitely not your typical tech book.
- I second this recommendation. Dreaming in Code is well worth the read.
- Have you read "Dreaming in Code"? This is a key theme in one section and I recall it was quoting Philip Eby https://dirtsimple.org/2004/12/python-is-not-java.html
- I greatly enjoyed The Leadership Moment by Michael Useem, which covers 9 stories of crises and how leaders approached them.
The Man Who Discovered Quality by Andrea Gabor is an interesting story of W. Edwards Deming, the American who revolutionized post-WWII Japanese manufacturing with statistical approaches to reducing variance.
Issac Newton by James Gleick conveys what it was like for Newton to essentially invent modern physical science in a pre-scientific world.
Dreaming In Code by Scott Rosenberg is a good counterpoint to inspiring tech origin stories: legendary coders coming together to build an amazing product and… basically failing.
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83. River of Doubt by Candice Millard
84. Longitude by Dava Sobel
85. Dreaming in Code by Scott Rosenberg
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87. The Wager by David Grann
88. Simply Fly by Captain G. R. Gopinath
89. Engines That Move Markets by Alasdair G. M. Nairn
90. The Education of Cyrus by Xenophon
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92. Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton
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96. American Steel by Richard Preston
97. Showstopper by G. Pascal Zachary
98. Eccentric Orbits by John Bloom
99. The Great Bridge by David McCullough
100. Loonshots by Safi Bahcall
101. The Art of Doing Science and Engineering by Richard Hamming
102. Where Wizards Stay Up Late by Katie Hafner
103. The Evening Star by Henry S. F. Cooper
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