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Books I've Been Reading, Part I: Dreaming in Code

I started reading Dreaming in Code before Thanksgiving, and to be honest, I haven't finished it yet. I originally checked it out from the library, but a few chapters in I began to regret that I didn't have my own copy. I was dying to scribble in the margins. When the desire to scribble became unbearable, over Thanksgiving weekend, I finally hit on the idea of putting my scribblings on Post-It notes and pasting them to the pages. I knew I'd never be able to finish by the time the book was due at the library, and when I bought my own copy, I could just transfer the notes over. (I was thinking I'd actually copy the notes onto the pages of the book, but moving them as-is proved just as satisfying, and simpler.)

So, why did I want to scribble? A couple reasons. One, I was fascinated by the history of software development as outlined in this book. I've worked on a software development team for 10 years, but since I came from a web, writing, and self-taught programming background rather than a formal computer science arena, the only way I know to develop software is The Dreamweaver Way... and I don't even know what that way would be called in general software development terms. (I realized this when I was in a meeting a few months ago and a couple of my colleagues started talking about Waterfall vs. Iterative/Agile methods; I'd heard of these terms, obviously, but I couldn't have explained the differences or benefits of the different approaches.) So learning about things like The Mythical Man-Month and how modern approaches to software development came to be was totally fascinating. I can see now WHY we do things the way we do on our team, and make some guesses about why our process works for us.

The other reason I wanted to scribble is that I'm familiar with the project that the book is about. Al was one of the original hires at the Open Source Applications Foundation (OSAF), and if I'm not mistaken, he was also the first to leave. (He's mentioned briefly—and identified somewhat incorrectly—in the book, but since he opted not to talk to the author while the book was being written, his role on the project isn't discussed in depth, and his departure isn't mentioned at all.) I knew virtually nothing about the project's fate after he left aside from the early public announcements about Chandler, so it was interesting to get the inside scoop on how slow and laborious the development process was. I obviously still don't know how it ends, but from what I've read so far, it doesn't look good: I have lots of Post-Its stuck to my book that say things like "SAME MEETING *AGAIN*!!!"

I don't feel equipped to give much of a review of Dreaming in Code, partly because I haven't finished it yet, and partly because of my personal, if tangential, connection to the story. One thing I will say is that I think a better title for the book would have been Coding a Dream. I also think it's likely that I'll return to this book as a reference—or a bibliography—over time.