[crouton] Nathaniel Trost: When Bugzilla Is Your Only Friend

[Email subscription to blog articles]

Posted by Nathaniel Trost:
When Bugzilla Is Your Only Friend
http://crouton.powerblogs.com/archives/archive_2007_02_18-2007_02_24.shtml#1172279948


   Yesterday was a refreshing cool overcast day in Southern California
   with periodic rain. It was very enjoyable. Today was bright, sunny,
   clear and still a bit crisp. That was also nice. What wasnât nice is I
   think the sudden weather change was largely to blame for the killer
   sinus headache that greeted me as I woke this morning. This resulted
   in a frustrating loss of productivity in a morning that ended up being
   limited to a couple critical tasks and being fetal. While the pain
   subsided over the course of the afternoon, the end result is drained
   lethargy.
   Now that Iâm back in start-up mode (ironic considering itâs for a
   company I started back in 2001), Iâve been looking for weapons to
   combat lethargy, discouragement and drive inspiration. Books are a
   prime source, and Iâve just finished reading two recent releases that
   fall into the appropriate category.
   The first, [1]Founders at Work: Stories of Startups Early Days has a
   pretty self-explanatory title. It didnât turn out to be especially
   inspirational, or terribly educational, but it was interesting. The
   stories and anecdotes ranged wildly both in length and quality
   (measured by âinterestingnessâ), but it was well worth the read. As I
   mentioned, I didnât really run across anything that was new, although
   the concept that companies that do well usually achieve it by
   capitalizing on unexpected opportunities is now further cemented into
   my mind. Founders at Work is well edited, and recommended if you like
   reading about the tech industry. I think I was slightly disappointed
   that the book didnât spark any epiphanies, but I was probably
   expecting too much.
   The second, [2]Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years,
   4,732 Bugs, and One Quest for Transcendent Software is probably an odd
   choice for inspiration. The book is an exceptional creation, it
   details the pain, agony, struggle, and sheer difficulty of creating
   serious computer software, but is written in such a fashion that
   someone outside the computer industry can read and understand it. It
   manages this without coming across as pedestrian or condescending,
   which is quite a feat of masterful writing. The technical, social and
   political dynamics of large-scale software development are displayed
   in all their ugly glory. One of the interesting aspects is how the
   project, Chandler, is largely free of the financial pressures that
   plague much of commercial software development. With that dimension
   removed, the others can be seen that much more clearly. The end result
   is a mesmerizing look at how even if you build a team of really smart,
   really experienced people, making software is hard. In time I want to
   be developing software even more complex than Chandler, so it is a
   case study well taken to heart and oddly inspirational. I suspect I
   will force some people to read it at some point, because it is a
   tremendously accessible look at an intimidating and seemingly
   incomprehensible world from the outside.

References

   1. http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FFounders-Work-Stories-Startups-Early%2Fdp%2F1590597141&tag=anitrouscrout-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325
   2. http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FDreaming-Code-Programmers-Transcendent-Software%2Fdp%2F1400082463&tag=anitrouscrout-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325