Programmers at Work - by Susan Lammers (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Programmers at Work... does for budding software writers what the Paris Review interviews did for would-be fiction writers. It provides comfort, inspiration, and a sense of community with those who have already succeeded in the field...it is not to be missed." - Erik Sandberg-Diment, The New York Times

Our world reverberates with the legacy of those early software architects. The constraints these first programmers faced were daunting--like packing functionality into PCs with just 64KB of memory--yet their approaches and solutions still offer practical lessons for today. This is especially true for programmers working in fields like robotics, where tight code and limited memory remain daily challenges.

Revisiting these conversations makes clear to software creators today how human imagination remains at the core of technological progress. And you, too--whether you're a seasoned engineer or a curious student--will find echoes of your own journey across these interviews.

The voices captured here are more than a record of the past. It is a set of living dialogues--conversations filled with enduring practices and creative sparks. They reveal a mindset--a combination of playfulness, discipline, and drive. These are the ingredients of innovation, as essential today on the new emerging platforms as they were in the earliest days of the PC.

Review Quotes

"Absolutely fascinating collection of interviews....Anyone seriously involved in programming will find the insights riveting." --- Computer Book Review

"Each of the 19 interviews...is like a kind of Crackerjack box--the Utterly Disarming, Frequently Astonishing Insight is the prize."--- Steven Levy, Whole Earth Review

"For anyone who's wondered how (and more interestingly, why) personal-computer software tools are crafted and whether the people who do the work are anything like those cartoon-character nerds of song and story, this is a delightful, insightful book....You'll learn a great deal about the world of dangerous ideas and intellectual challenges, intense commitment and breaking out of the constraints of how-it's-done-here." --- Jim Seymour, syndicated columnist

"Programmers at Work... does for budding software writers what the Paris Review interviews did for would-be fiction writers. It provides comfort, inspiration, and a sense of community with those who have already succeeded in the field...it is not to be missed." --- Erik Sandberg-Diment, The New York Times

"Programmers will enjoy this book for obvious reasons, but sections of the book would be...fascinating to those people who love music, visual arts, writing, and finance." --- Pace Magazine

"Susan Lammers has allowed her subjects to shape the interviews as they like, and their personalities and obsessions pour off every page....For budding programmers, this book is an invaluable tutorial on work habits....For the rest of us, it's a good chance to meet the faces behind the interfaces." --- Macworld

"Susan Lammers has attempted, and brought off in great style, one of these risky but rewarding world of ideas books: a series of gentle, insightful 'let the subject speak' interviews with 19 star programmers....This book is highly recommended--and as interesting a read for the computerphobe as for the computerphile." --- PC Week

About the Author

Susan Lammers is an award-winning writer and entrepreneur. Previously, she has held leadership roles at Microsoft, Corbis, and other startup companies. She currently lives in Seattle.