Why Software Sucks...and What You Can Do About It

Description

“I’ve just finished reading the best computer book [Why Software Sucks...] since I last re-read one of mine and I wanted to pass along the good word. . . . Put this one on your must-have list if you have software, love software, hate programmers, or even ARE a programmer, because Mr. Platt (who teaches programming) has set out to puncture the bloated egos of all those who think that just because they can write a program, they can make it easy to use. . . . This book is funny, but it is also an important wake-up call for software companies that want to reduce the size of their customer support bills. If you were ever stuck for an answer to the question, ’Why do good programmers make such awful software?’ this book holds the answer.”
—John McCormick, Locksmith columnist, TechRepublic.com

“I must say first, I don’t get many computing manuscripts that make me laugh out loud. Between the laughs, Dave Platt delivers some very interesting insight and perspective, all in a lucid and engaging style. I don’t get much of that either!”
—Henry Leitner, assistant dean for information technology andsenior lecturer on computer science, Harvard University

“A riotous book for all of us downtrodden computer users, written in language that we understand.”
—Stacy Baratelli, author’s barber

“David’s unique take on the problems that bedevil software creation made me think about the process in new ways. If you care about the quality of the software you create or use, read this book.”
—Dave Chappell, principal, Chappell & Associates

“I began to read it in my office but stopped before I reached the bottom of the first page. I couldn’t keep a grin off my face! I’ll enjoy it after I go back home and find a safe place to read.”
—Tsukasa Makino, IT manager

“David explains, in terms that my mother-in-law can understand, why the software we use today can be so frustrating, even dangerous at times, and gives us some real ideas on what we can do about it.”
—Jim Brosseau, Clarrus Consulting Group, Inc.

A Book for Anyone Who Uses a Computer Today...and Just Wants to Scream!

Today’s software sucks. There’s no other good way to say it. It’s unsafe, allowing criminal programs to creep through the Internet wires into our very bedrooms. It’s unreliable, crashing when we need it most, wiping out hours or days of work with no way to get it back. And it’s hard to use, requiring large amounts of head-banging to figure out the simplest operations.

It’s no secret that software sucks. You know that from personal experience, whether you use computers for work or personal tasks. In this book, programming insider David Platt explains why that’s the case and, more importantly, why it doesn’t have to be that way. And he explains it in plain, jargon-free English that’s a joy to read, using real-world examples with which you’re already familiar. In the end, he suggests what you, as a typical user, without a technical background, can do about this sad state of our software—how you, as an informed consumer, don’t have to take the abuse that bad software dishes out.

As you might expect from the book’s title, Dave’s expose is laced with humor—sometimes outrageous, but always dead on. You’ll laugh out loud as you recall incidents with your own software that made you cry. You’ll slap your thigh with the same hand that so often pounded your computer desk and wished it was a bad programmer’s face. But Dave hasn’t written this book just for laughs. He’s written it to give long-overdue voice to your own discovery—that software does, indeed, suck, but it shouldn’t.

 

Table of Contents 

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction 1

Chapter 1: Who’re You Calling a Dummy? 9

Where We Came From 10

Why It Still Sucks Today 11

Control versus Ease of Use 13

I Don’t Care How Your Program Works 15

A Bad Feature and a Good One 19

Stopping the Proceedings with Idiocy 23

Testing on Live Animals 26

Where We Are and What You Can Do 28

Chapter 2: Tangled in the Web 31

Where We Came From 32

How It Works 34

Why It Still Sucks Today 37

Client-Centered Design versus Server-Centered Design 40

Where’s My Eye Opener? 46

It’s Obvious—Not! 52

Splash, Flash, and Animation 56

Testing on Live Animals 59

What You Can Do about It 61

Chapter 3: Keep Me Safe 65

The Way It Was 66

Why It Sucks Today 67

What Programmers Need to Know, but Don’t 71

A Human Operation 77

Budgeting for Hassles 80

Users Are Lazy 83

Social Engineering 87

Last Word on Security 92

What You Can Do 93

Chapter 4: Who the Heck Are You? 97

Where We Came From 97

Why It Still Sucks Today 98

Incompatible Requirements 99

OK, So Now What? 106

Chapter 5: Who’re You Looking At? 119

Yes, They Know You 119

Why It Sucks More Than Ever Today 122

Users Don’t Know Where the Risks Are 125

What They Know First 127

Milk You with Cookies? 129

Privacy Policy Nonsense 138

Covering Your Tracks 140

The Google Conundrum 141

Solution 145

Chapter 6: Ten Thousand Geeks, Crazed on Jolt Cola 149

See Them in Their Native Habitat 149

All These Geeks 150

Who Speaks, and When, and about What 153

Selling It 158

The Next Generation of Geeks—Passing It On 161

Chapter 7: Who Are These Crazy Bastards Anyway? 169

Homo Logicus 170

Testosterone Poisoning 171

Control and Contentment 173

Making Models 175

Geeks and Jocks 177

Jargon 179

Brains and Constraints 181

Seven Habits of Geeks 183

Chapter 8: Microsoft: Can’t Live With ’Em and Can’t Live Without ’Em 189

They Run the World 189

Me and Them 190

Where We Came From 193

Why It Sucks Today 195

Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don’t 199

We Love to Hate Them 203

Plus ça Change 207

Growing-Up Pains 211

What You Can Do about It 214

The Last Word 220

Chapter 9: Doing Something About It 223

1. Buy 224

2. Tell 229

3. Ridicule 232

4. Trust 233

5. Organize 237

Epilogue 241

About the Author 243

「今天的軟體糟透了」，沒有其他更好的方式來形容它。它不安全，讓犯罪程式透過網路線潛入我們的臥室。它不可靠，在我們最需要它的時候崩潰，讓我們付出數小時甚至數天的工作付諸流水。而且它難以使用，需要大量的頭撞牆才能弄清楚最簡單的操作。

軟體糟透了這一點並不是秘密。不論你是在工作還是個人任務中使用電腦，你都從個人經驗中知道這一點。在這本書中，程式設計專家David Platt解釋了為什麼軟體糟透了，並提供了一些解決方法。這本書不僅有趣，還是軟體公司減少客戶支援費用的重要警醒。如果你曾經對「為什麼優秀的程式設計師會做出如此糟糕的軟體？」這個問題束手無策，這本書將給出答案。

以下是一些對這本書的評價：

「這是我讀過的最好的電腦書籍（《為什麼軟體糟透了...》）之一，自從我上次重讀自己的書以來，我想傳達這個好消息...如果你有軟體，喜歡軟體，討厭程式設計師，甚至是程式設計師本身，把這本書列入你必讀清單，因為Platt先生（他教授程式設計）旨在戳破那些認為只因為他們會寫程式，就能使其易於使用的自大心態...這本書很有趣，但對於希望減少客戶支援費用的軟體公司來說，它也是一個重要的警醒。」—John McCormick，《TechRepublic.com》專欄作家

「首先，我要說的是，我很少讀到讓我哈哈大笑的電腦手稿。在這些笑聲中，Dave Platt以清晰而引人入勝的風格提供了一些非常有趣的見解和觀點。我也很少看到這樣的東西！」—Henry Leitner，哈佛大學資訊技術助理院長和資訊科學高級講師

「這是一本為我們這些受壓迫的電腦使用者而寫的搞笑書籍，用我們能理解的語言寫成。」—Stacy Baratelli，作者的理髮師

「David對困擾軟體創建的問題的獨特見解讓我以新的方式思考這個過程。如果你關心你創建或使用的軟體的品質，請閱讀這本書。」—Dave Chappell，Chappell & Associates首席

「我在辦公室開始閱讀這本書，但在讀完第一頁之前就停下來了。我無法掩飾住我的笑容！我回家後會找個安全的地方繼續享受它。」—Tsukasa Makino，IT經理

「David用我婆婆都能理解的方式解釋了為什麼我們今天使用的軟體如此令人沮喪，甚至有時候是危險的，並提供了一些真正的想法，我們可以對此做些什麼。」—Jim Brosseau，Clarrus Consulting Group, Inc.