Joel on Software

Distributed Version Control is here to stay, baby

Joel on Software — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:25:05 GMT

A while ago Jeff and I had Eric Sink on the Stack Overflow Podcast , and we were yammering on about version control, especially the trendy new distributed version control systems, like Mercurial and Git . In that podcast, I said, “To me, the fact that...(read more)

Puppy!

Joel on Software — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:53:04 GMT

At right, a picture of Taco, a ten-week-old siberian husky puppy who moved in with us last week! Some of you may have seen my final column in Inc. , in which I announce my retirement from blogging effective March 18th, the 10-year anniversary of Joel...(read more)

Facebook / LinkedIn importers

Joel on Software — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:05:00 GMT

New StackOverflow developer Kevin Montrose (6,878 reputation) added a neat feature to the career site that makes it a zillion times easier to file a CV if you’ve already put in your job and education history on LinkedIn or FaceBook. Try it out . Need...(read more)

Raising money for StackOverflow

Joel on Software — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:21:00 GMT

A few people heard me on This Week in Startups (starting at 15:45) asking Jason if we should take money from the first VC who fell into our laps, or spend time doing the Sand Hill Road rounds, meeting more VCs, and doing a road show for the other firms...(read more)

Headcount

Joel on Software — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:12:02 GMT

In the early days of a technology startup, you tend to have a lot of software developers, and you feel like you could never have enough. If you hire sales and marketing staff too early, they don’t really get much traction, and you may start to think that...(read more)

Why testers?

Joel on Software — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:04:00 GMT

My sister got her kids a little puppy, and they’ve been trying to train it. To live with a dog in the house, you need to teach it not to jump on people, not to poop in the house, to sit on command, and to never, ever, ever chew on the iPad. Never. Good...(read more)

Rocket Surgery Made Easy

Joel on Software — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:21:01 GMT

Steve Krug has written a follow up to his usability classic Don’t Make Me Think . 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...(read more)

A little less conversation

Joel on Software — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:33:04 GMT

“As companies expand, the people within them start to specialize. At such a point, some managers will conclude that they have a ‘keep everyone on the same page’ problem. But often what they actually have is a ‘stop people from meddling when there are...(read more)

Secret language

Joel on Software — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:01:01 GMT

Microsoft Careers : “ If you’re looking for a new role where you’ll focus on one of the biggest issues that is top of mind for KT and Steve B in ‘Compete’, build a complete left to right understanding of the subsidiary, have a large amount of executive...(read more)

Let’s stop talking about “backups”

Joel on Software — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:30:01 GMT

Is your desktop backed up? Did you backup that server? Are your backups on a different machine? Do you have offsite backups? All good questions, all best practices. But let’s stop talking about “backups.” Doing a backup is too low a bar. Any experienced...(read more)

Stack stats

Joel on Software — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:57:01 GMT

The higher someone’s Stack Overflow reputation, the more likely they are to have submitted a CV to Stack Overflow Careers : This is not entirely surprising, of course: the more time someone has invested in Stack Overflow, the more likely they are to Read...(read more)

When and how to micromanage

Joel on Software — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:49:02 GMT

“Like most entrepreneurs, Ryan and I are still learning about how to manage people and teams. And we’re both used to hiring very smart and dedicated people who will get things done to a high standard if you give them some general direction and set them...(read more)

Programmer search engine

Joel on Software — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:24:04 GMT

For as long as I’ve been in the industry, which is, I think, about 74 years now, the problem I’ve had with hiring programmers was not interviewing them or deciding if they’re smart—it’s been finding them in the first place. What I’ve dreamed about is...(read more)

Upgrade your career

Joel on Software — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:34:00 GMT

Do you like your job? Do you enjoy the people you work with? Would you want to have lunch with them? Every day? Alex Papadimoulis thinks that Fog Tyler Griffin Hicks-Wright Creek’s free lunches are “cultish,” but everyone at Fog Creek loves them. Maybe...(read more)

Does Slow Growth Equal Slow Death?

Joel on Software — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:50:05 GMT

My new Inc. column is up . “For a guy who wrote a book on how to hire great programmers, it’s mortifying how incompetent I’ve been at enlarging the sales team, which, right now, consists of one terrific account executive and a dog. (I’m just kidding....(read more)

Figuring out what your company is all about

Joel on Software — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:51:03 GMT

What is your company about? Recently I got inspired by Kathy Sierra, whose blog Creating Passionate Users and Head First series of books revolutionized developer education. She kept saying the same thing again and again: help your users be awesome . Kathy...(read more)

Adam Bosworth on standards

Joel on Software — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:50:02 GMT

Adam Bosworth : “All successful standards are as simple as possible, not as hard as possible.” Required reading. Need to hire a really great programmer? Want a job that doesn't drive you crazy? Visit the Joel on Software Job Board : Great software...(read more)

Capstone projects and time management

Joel on Software — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:36:04 GMT

It is amazing how easy it is to sail through a Computer Science degree from a top university without ever learning the basic tools of software developers, without ever working on a team, and without ever taking a course for which you don’t get an automatic...(read more)

The “WiFi At Conferences” Problem

Joel on Software — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:20:05 GMT

Why does WiFi work so poorly at tech conferences? Marcus Griep I assume that WiFi wasn’t really designed to handle a big ballroom with 2000 people, all trying to connect with their laptops and cell phones at the same time. Sometimes I feel like I’m lucky...(read more)

The Duct Tape Programmer

Joel on Software — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:58:03 GMT

Jamie Zawinski is what I would call a duct-tape programmer. And I say that with a great deal of respect. He is the kind of programmer who is hard at work building the future, and making useful things so that people can do stuff. He is the guy you want...(read more)

Countdown challenge

Joel on Software — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:56:02 GMT

This month we’re starting to get organized for StackOverflow DevDays , a series of one-day, mini conferences in ten different cities. Because of the packed schedule, keeping on time is very important, so I want to have a full-screen countdown application...(read more)

Upcoming startup workshop in San Francisco

Joel on Software — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:54:04 GMT

I’m organizing a half-day startup workshop in San Francisco. This would be a terrific event to attend if you’ve recently started a software company and feel dazed, confused, or just want to bounce ideas off of someone who’s been there. We’ll keep it small...(read more)

Being Number One

Joel on Software — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:13:03 GMT

At last year’s Business of Software conference, I gave a talk about designing products that are more than just adequate. How do you make a product that becomes a category-killer, number one, super hit? What is it that gives the Apple iPod 90% market share...(read more)

New startup incubator in Cambridge, England

Joel on Software — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:53:00 GMT

Red Gate Software has launched a startup incubator in Cambridge. Free office space, internet access, room, board, advice, and pocket money. (I’m one of the people giving advice). For a first, it’s really free; Red Gate isn't taking stock in the companies...(read more)

Seth Godin at the Business of Software Conference

Joel on Software — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:17:04 GMT

Seth Godin: “If you’re going to interrupt everybody with an ad, it better be something everybody wants to buy. So what do you end up with? Average products for average people.” If you’ve ever heard Seth speak, you’ve had your mind blown. Which is why...(read more)