Core Software Reading with Scott Rosenberg

I just came across something cool, Scott Rosenberg's Code Reads project, in which Scott presents a series of "core" reading material in the software field. Each suggested reading has a companion discussion (open to all to participate) to go with it. Scott started a few weeks ago with The Mythical Man-Month, and followed up with Djikstra's famous essay "Go To Statement Considered Harmful." Coming up next is a set of three more essays by Djikstra (one of which is a big favorite of mine, "The Humble Programmer").

I'v been a big fan of Scott Rosenberg's writing for several years now at Salon.com, which he co-founded. (I happen to mostly identify with the political slant at Salon.com, but even if you don't, in my opinion you have to admire the way they have survived and thrived as an online-only publication through many years that people said they'd never make it--Scott's role on the technology side of Salon, not to mention his autorial and editorial roles, were a big part of that success.)

Scott has a new software-related book coming out in January 2007, which sounds interesting. It's called Dreaming in Code, and it will be published by mainstream trade publisher Crown--a feat for which Scott deserves a special congratulations. We'll offer more coverage of the book here in the future.

Dan