30 review for Programmers at Work: Interviews With 19 Programmers Who Shaped the Computer Industry (Tempus)

1. 

   5 out of 5

   Will – Mar 21, 2016

   Programmers at Work by Susan Lammers is an excellent snapshot into the workings of minds that helped shape the early computer industry. These tech pioneers share their thoughts and musings on a wide range of topics. While the book is a little dated in terms of technology, there are bits of wisdom, ideas, timeless concepts and entertaining stories scattered throughout that are worthwhile to any student of computer history or computer programming. Some sections are dry and drag on for too long but Programmers at Work by Susan Lammers is an excellent snapshot into the workings of minds that helped shape the early computer industry. These tech pioneers share their thoughts and musings on a wide range of topics. While the book is a little dated in terms of technology, there are bits of wisdom, ideas, timeless concepts and entertaining stories scattered throughout that are worthwhile to any student of computer history or computer programming. Some sections are dry and drag on for too long but it held my interest for the most part. It was particularly entertaining to be able to compare how close these programmer's predictions about the future have come to our current reality. Some predictions aren't quite correct but some are spot on and way ahead of their time. One standout example is when Jaron Lanier is describing to the interviewer what we now know as virtual reality and augmented reality. This book isn't for every reader but if your interests fall into this particular vein of knowledge, you won't regret reading this book for the insights it offers into tech history, creativity and the spirit of technological innovation. I would love to see a publisher come up with a new series of books similar to this one that feature today's top programmers and technological prophets.

2. 

   4 out of 5

   Elijah Oyekunle – Mar 10, 2019

   She goes around asking some of the earliest programmers about their craft. Apart from specific questions tailored to each person, she asks some common questions such as: Is it a skill or an art? Which programmers do you admire? Did you originally plan to get into programming? What do you think of artificial intelligence? Do you have any code snippets or sketches that exemplify your approach? Why is programming so obsessive? What are the things you do apart from programming? A lot of programmers fly plan She goes around asking some of the earliest programmers about their craft. Apart from specific questions tailored to each person, she asks some common questions such as: Is it a skill or an art? Which programmers do you admire? Did you originally plan to get into programming? What do you think of artificial intelligence? Do you have any code snippets or sketches that exemplify your approach? Why is programming so obsessive? What are the things you do apart from programming? A lot of programmers fly planes, apparently. Good read!

3. 

   4 out of 5

   Sefa – Oct 30, 2012

   Collection of interviews with famous programmers back in 80s. Tremendous change in computers/programming since then, yet fun and interesting to read how programming was at the end of 80s. Predictions on the future of computing (e.g. compact disc, whether we will use computers anything besides word processing and spreadsheet). The list of programmers interviewed is given below. It is interesting to take a look at the links to see what they are doing now. - Charles Simonyi - Butler Lampson - John War Collection of interviews with famous programmers back in 80s. Tremendous change in computers/programming since then, yet fun and interesting to read how programming was at the end of 80s. Predictions on the future of computing (e.g. compact disc, whether we will use computers anything besides word processing and spreadsheet). The list of programmers interviewed is given below. It is interesting to take a look at the links to see what they are doing now. - Charles Simonyi - Butler Lampson - John Warnock - Gary Kildall - Bill Gates - John Page - Wayne Ratliff - Dan Bricklin - Bob Frankston - Jonathan Sachs - Ray Ozzie - Peter Roizen - Bob Carr - Jef Raskin - Andy Hertzfeld - Tori Iwatani - Scott Kim - Jason Lanier - Michael Hawdey

4. 

   4 out of 5

   Mikhail Filatov – Sep 06, 2021

   The interviewer-author of the book talked with 19 important persons in "personal computer"-related Software engineering circa 1985, asking them similar questions. Some of them are active programmers, some (like Charles Simonyi) are more software managers, some (like Bill Gates) are top managers. It's quite an interesting read as you realize that a lot of things has not changed, like AI hype. In a form of, expert systems the hype was near its peak. Majority of the interviewees are rather skeptica The interviewer-author of the book talked with 19 important persons in "personal computer"-related Software engineering circa 1985, asking them similar questions. Some of them are active programmers, some (like Charles Simonyi) are more software managers, some (like Bill Gates) are top managers. It's quite an interesting read as you realize that a lot of things has not changed, like AI hype. In a form of, expert systems the hype was near its peak. Majority of the interviewees are rather skeptical about it, but some (including Gates) are very upbeat. One of the founders of "virtual reality" - Jaron Lanier- promised to deliver it "very soon" It was also interesting reading that Gates believed that he can maintain a team of 160 programmers at Microsoft for a long time :) Also you can observe the change from people of 70s, obsessed with memory (I put something in 4K, 16K), etc. and people of 80s, thinking about OOP, readibility, etc.

5. 

   5 out of 5

   Theofanis Despoudis – Nov 07, 2019

   I think the book is exceptional. As a professional programmer you can find a lot of inspiration reading the stories of some of the most influential Engineers that created the most awesome tools and programming languages used today.

6. 

   5 out of 5

   Patrick – Jul 16, 2018

   This book had a huge impact on me in letting me see what *being* a programmer might entail. What the daily life and activity would be. And today I still draw on so many images implanted by this book.

7. 

   5 out of 5

   Andrew – Oct 23, 2021

   Delightful! Some dry bits but such a privilege to hear from these people. Too bad no women represented.

8. 

   5 out of 5

   Craig Cecil – Feb 24, 2012

   When Susan Lammers wrote this book back in 1986, the interviews with the programmers within gave us some good insight into how these guys (sorry, no gals) thought, created, and executed their visions. Today, these interviews serve as a tapestry of the history of computing. It's still interesting to read about the early days of Microsoft with Bill Gates, to listen to Dan Bricklin (VisiCalc) about the genesis of the modern day spreadsheet, to understand the vision Mitch Kapor (Lotus 1-2-3) had abo When Susan Lammers wrote this book back in 1986, the interviews with the programmers within gave us some good insight into how these guys (sorry, no gals) thought, created, and executed their visions. Today, these interviews serve as a tapestry of the history of computing. It's still interesting to read about the early days of Microsoft with Bill Gates, to listen to Dan Bricklin (VisiCalc) about the genesis of the modern day spreadsheet, to understand the vision Mitch Kapor (Lotus 1-2-3) had about extending the ideas that VisiCalc started, as well as from the man who actually programmed Lotus 1-2-3 (Jonathan Sacks). You'll also read about the people behind Multics, dBase, CP/M, Digital Research, Adobe, the Apple II and Mac, etc. Again, it's the storytelling of the people involved that elevates this book, not necessarily the technology. A classic book with the passage of time.

9. 

   5 out of 5

   Steven – Nov 02, 2008

   An interesting snapshot of programming in the 1980s. It wasn't edited very much, so some of the interviews get a bit dull, but it's still interesting to see where the personal computer industry thought it was going and where it wound up. An interesting snapshot of programming in the 1980s. It wasn't edited very much, so some of the interviews get a bit dull, but it's still interesting to see where the personal computer industry thought it was going and where it wound up.

10. 

    4 out of 5

    André – Jul 22, 2015

    not to be confused with "coders at work" or "founders at work" not to be confused with "coders at work" or "founders at work"

11. 

    4 out of 5

    Ben Haley – Oct 19, 2009

    Jeff Atwood of Coding Horrors recommended this right after declaring his love for "Coders at Work" which I thought was great. Jeff Atwood of Coding Horrors recommended this right after declaring his love for "Coders at Work" which I thought was great.

12. 

    4 out of 5

    Jeremy Dagorn – Aug 09, 2013

    Really inspiring, and good insights about how people are working, debugging, interacting with their surroundings.

13. 

    5 out of 5

    Isaac Rodriguez –

14. 

    5 out of 5

    Linda –

15. 

    5 out of 5

    John Harper –

16. 

    4 out of 5

    John Wright –

17. 

    5 out of 5

    Ignacio Burgueño –

18. 

    4 out of 5

    David –

19. 

    5 out of 5

    Scott Sullivan –

20. 

    5 out of 5

    Irving Bennett –

21. 

    5 out of 5

    Fabian –

22. 

    4 out of 5

    Mkfs –

23. 

    5 out of 5

    Princer Princer –

24. 

    4 out of 5

    Mihai Parparita –

25. 

    5 out of 5

    Shital –

26. 

    5 out of 5

    Matt V. –

27. 

    5 out of 5

    Jose –

28. 

    4 out of 5

    Onkar –

29. 

    4 out of 5

    Christian Eriksson –

30. 

    5 out of 5

    Jon –