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54 reviews for:
Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age
Paul Graham, Allen Noren, Matt Hutchinson
3.79 AVERAGE
54 reviews for:
Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age
Paul Graham, Allen Noren, Matt Hutchinson
3.79 AVERAGE
slow-paced
“Let's start with a test: Do you have any opinions that you would be reluctant to express in front of a group of your peers?
If the answer is no, you might want to stop and think about that. If everything you believe is something you're supposed to believe, could that possibly be a coincidence? Odds are it isn't. Odds are you just think whatever you're told.”
Šim līdzīgi izteikumi piesaistīja šajā eseju kopumā, skaidrojumi par programmēšanas valodu attīstību, pagātni un nākotnes iespējām arī. Vienu zvaigzni noķeksēju par to, ka vēl daudz brīvas vietas tur palicis lasītāja izaicināšanai un pārsteigšanai, otru - par brīžam tomēr pārāk lielu vēlmi vispārināt.
Visādi citādi, laba lasāmviela.
Some really great ideas from Paul Graham, venture capitalist/essayist extraordinaire. Despite the title, a lot of what is said is independent of computers, with an essay on education in particular being extremely enlightening. The libertarian bent might be a bit much for some(myself included), but a lot of the underlining ideas are incredibly well thought out. A must read for anyone interested in the world, if only for the essays on education and censorship.
This is a nice collection of articles from Paul Graham, one of the few essay authors in the tech world. The book is nice to read and full of life interesting opinions like:
"Empathy is probably the single most important difference between a good hacker and a great one. Some hackers are quite smart, but practically solipsists when it comes to empathy. It’s hard for such people to design great software, because they can’t see things from the user’s point of view.”
Graham stars talking about how he believes good hackers are like artists, moves on to give startup tips and closes the book exploring the importance of using good programming languages (instead of average ones).
"Technology often should be cutting-edge. In programming languages, as Erann Gat has pointed out, what “industry best practice” actually gets you is not the best, but merely the average. When a decision causes you to develop software at a fraction of the rate of more aggressive competitors, “best practice” does not really seem the right name for it.”
"Empathy is probably the single most important difference between a good hacker and a great one. Some hackers are quite smart, but practically solipsists when it comes to empathy. It’s hard for such people to design great software, because they can’t see things from the user’s point of view.”
Graham stars talking about how he believes good hackers are like artists, moves on to give startup tips and closes the book exploring the importance of using good programming languages (instead of average ones).
"Technology often should be cutting-edge. In programming languages, as Erann Gat has pointed out, what “industry best practice” actually gets you is not the best, but merely the average. When a decision causes you to develop software at a fraction of the rate of more aggressive competitors, “best practice” does not really seem the right name for it.”
This book aged pretty well. It's filled with wisdom and interesting ideas about programming languages, startups and technology.
Enjoyable -- some absolute gems. Anything on the future or history of technology should be read twice;
the digressions about taxation/social policy (often presented as an argument with an editorial-page strawman) were, well -- you know what they say about opinions...
the digressions about taxation/social policy (often presented as an argument with an editorial-page strawman) were, well -- you know what they say about opinions...
While the flow of this book can be a bit disjoint at times, I think any technical person will find something to chew on here.
The ideas Graham espouses are often radical on their face, but cut to the quick of some really big societal problems, and speak truths about the human side of our industry that really needed to be given voice.
The ideas Graham espouses are often radical on their face, but cut to the quick of some really big societal problems, and speak truths about the human side of our industry that really needed to be given voice.
I really tried to like this book. Perhaps because I hyped it up so much in my head it just didn't meet my expectations. I enjoyed some of his other essays and I am a bit of a "CS" enthusiast so I thought it would be fun to check it out, especially because it also combines painting, which I thoroughly enjoy as well.
And I ended up just disappointed. The first chapter did not at all impress me. It read to me like a 40-year old lamenting his high school years because some girl didn't notice him. The use of "nerd" as a synonym for smart probably was meant to be more ironic, but it felt too tinged with haughtiness to me. I don't know. Maybe it's the writing style that got on my nerves; it felt a little too condescending: it felt like it was trying to dumb down everything so our little tiny reader brains could understand him. I just didn't like it all.
I can't say much about anything beyond the first 40 pages of the book. Maybe the rest of it will be interesting to read outside the pages of this book. I just feel really disappointed because Graham's essay on essays was fantastic, and I was really hoping this book would be more of that.
And I ended up just disappointed. The first chapter did not at all impress me. It read to me like a 40-year old lamenting his high school years because some girl didn't notice him. The use of "nerd" as a synonym for smart probably was meant to be more ironic, but it felt too tinged with haughtiness to me. I don't know. Maybe it's the writing style that got on my nerves; it felt a little too condescending: it felt like it was trying to dumb down everything so our little tiny reader brains could understand him. I just didn't like it all.
I can't say much about anything beyond the first 40 pages of the book. Maybe the rest of it will be interesting to read outside the pages of this book. I just feel really disappointed because Graham's essay on essays was fantastic, and I was really hoping this book would be more of that.
The whole second half of the book was a wash.
A few good essays in the first half.
A few good essays in the first half.