Joel Spolsky is a highly revered software pundit, an eminent author, the host of one of the most widely read blogs, the co-founder of New York based FogCreek Software, and a witty and intelligent person to listen to. He believes that the three key ingredients that make great software are: making users happy, obsessing over aesthetics, and observing culture code. In elaborating these ideas with plenty of examples, he doesn't spare his wonderful sense of humor.
Joel Spolsky is a globally recognized expert on the software development process. His website Joel on Software is popular with software developers around the world and has been translated into over thirty languages. He created FogBugz, a popular project management system for software teams. Joel has worked at Microsoft, where he designed VBA as a member of the Excel team, and at Juno Online Services, developing an Internet client used by millions. He has written four books: User Interface Design for Programmers (Apress, 2001), Joel on Software (Apress, 2004), Smart and Gets Things Done: Joel Spolsky’s Concise Guide to Finding the Best Technical Talent (Apress, 2007), and recently, More Joel on Software, and writes a monthly column for Inc. Magazine, where he is a contributing editor. In 2005, Joel selected some of the best known writing on software that could be found online, and published it under the title The Best Software Writing I.
In 2001, Joel co-founded FogCreek Software with his ex-colleague Michael Pryor, in New York, with the dream of building an ideal place where the best of breed software developers would love to work. So far, he's been more than successful. Joel himself is an excellent hacker, an avid reader, and a very witty and intelligent person to listen to. He holds a BS in Computer Science from Yale University. Before college he served in the Israeli Defense Forces as a paratrooper, and he was one of the founders of Kibbutz Hanaton.
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