| The Tao of Programming
by Geoffrey James
ISBN: 0931137071
Publisher: Infobooks
Pages: 151
The Tao of Programming is a small, nice looking, and downright funny book.
Written in the spirit of eastern philosophy, it presents the reader some
thoughts about programming. The dramatic preface builds the atmosphere:
a long lost piece of text that contains the collective wisdom of an ancient
programming sect has been found. Written in an unfamiliar dialect, the manuscript
has now been translated and published. The “original” text has
been kept side-by-side with the “translation”, decorated with
pictures combining mysticism and computing.
Given the decorations and the layout of the book its 150 pages boil down
to 30 minutes of relaxed reading. That said, The Tao of Programming contains
many points that are well worth deeper studies. For example, were all
GUI designers to follow the recommended “Law of Least Astonishment”
then the world would be a better place.
The Tao of Programming makes up an ideal gift for a programmer.
Reviewed February 2006 |
