你们应该看看 Joel 的文章

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翻看 Joel 14 年前的文章，发现其观点实在是太犀利了。于是果断买了《软件随想录》，估计以后不会再版了。

Converting Capital Into Software That Works

by Joel Spolsky
Tuesday, March 21, 2000

I'm convinced that most people think about software companies in an upside-down way. The common belief is that when you're building a software company, the goal is to find a neat idea that solves some problem which hasn't been solved before, implement it, and make a fortune. We'll call this the build-a-better-mousetrap belief. But the real goal for software companies should be converting capital into software that works. If you understand this, it's easier to make the right strategic decisions.

......

If you want to be the number one restaurant in town, you have to worry about how to get the best chefs and the best ingredients. You are a factory that converts raw ingredients and chefs to a dining experience. If you are a movie studio, you have to worry about getting the best actors, directors, and writers. You are a factory that converts talent into entertainment. So if you are a software company, you have to get the best chefs and directors: you are company that converts talent into code. The right talent knows how to make the right code which will make you successful.

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000074.html

software

make

best

18 replies • 1970-01-01 08:00:00 +08:00

LouisLi

Mar 10, 2014 via iPhone

观点确实犀利，以后也要买本看看。

alexapollo

Mar 10, 2014

为什么认为他的观点犀利？

manfay

Mar 10, 2014 via iPhone

不擅长烹饪的导演不是一个好码农？

alexrezit

Mar 10, 2014 via iPhone

高中时的课上读物.

chilaoqi

Mar 10, 2014

犀利，汉语词语，表示切中要害，一针见血，具有说服力，洞穿力，语言直观，深入中心。在广东话里被引申为厉害，高明。是由衷的赞叹。

LouisLi

Mar 10, 2014 via iPhone

@alexapollo 英文那段话我的理解是，人们通常以为软件公司要成功必须要创造独特的价值，其实不是这样的，软件不需要独特的价值，只要有价值就好(works)，重要的是将资本转化为价值的能力。
我觉得软件的价值和管理者的转化能力同样重要，独特价值是optional的。大家没有觉得很犀利么，至少解除了我的一个误区。

jsonline

Mar 10, 2014 via Android

@LouisLi 这个观点乍看奇奇怪怪，文中其实有很多例证。你看了就发觉我靠这不是在说当今中国的软件业嘛

jsonline

Mar 10, 2014 via Android

@LouisLi Joel 说现在有37间公司提供同样的免费的产品，解决同一个问题，他们都能解决问题，说明解决问题只是软件公司的一个低级目标。公司应该把重点放在如何花钱把开发者的智力转换为代码，更高效的，更。健壮的。
他说他会在后面文章解释如何招聘程序员，如何管理程序员，如何激发程序员。

jsonline

Mar 10, 2014 via Android

@alexapollo 见上

alexapollo

Mar 10, 2014

@LouisLi 他就是说Factory里Worker效率要高。我反而觉得这个观点异常老派。

jsonline

Mar 10, 2014

@alexapollo 那是个比喻吧，说软件公司是把 talent 转化为 code 的 factory

vindurriel

Mar 10, 2014

第一段是说理想化的软件工程是质量先行，靠开发带动投资，而现实中的软件公司多数是反过来，开发首先是为了搂住投资，质量和价值倒在其次。
第二段不算犀利，只是简单类比。

alexapollo

Mar 10, 2014

@jsonline 对，生产效率可以等同于成本，这个世界上，大多数的行业，都是以最小的成本做最多的事。有什么让人觉得犀利的观点吗？
反过来我问你一个问题：HR的中文叫什么？

jsonline

Mar 10, 2014

@alexapollo 如果你一定要我证明 Joel 哪一句惊为天人，我倒是做不到。我就是翻看他14年前的文章，发现能纠正当下一些主流的关于软件开发与管理的不恰当的观点，甚觉犀利。我摘出的也只是一篇文章的 1/4，如果你有时间，推荐你看一看，再做判断。

比如他讲如何招聘程序员： http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000073.html
First of all, the #1 cardinal criteria for getting hired at Fog Creek:

Smart, and
Gets Things Done.

That's it. That's all we're looking for. Memorize that. Recite it to yourself before you go to bed every night. Our goal is to hire people with aptitude, not a particular skill set. Any skill set that people can bring to the job will be technologically obsolete in a couple of years, anyway, so it's better to hire people that are going to be able to learn any new technology rather than people who happen to know SQL programming right this minute.

...

Just for fun, here is the worst interview question on Earth: "What's the difference between varchar and varchar2 in Oracle 8i?" This is a terrible question. There is no possible, imaginable correlation between people that know that particular piece of useless trivia and people that Fog Creek wants to hire. Who cares what the difference is? You can find out online in about 15 seconds!

...

他多数观点都比较极端，『要么这样，要么那样，没有中间状态』的观点，但是都是基于他对软件业的深入思考和实践才说的。这也是为什么我认为他犀利。

alexapollo

Mar 10, 2014

@jsonline 软件随想录？

要么这样，要么那样，典型的二分法，一个二叉树。World is grey, isn't it?
或许你会对bayes理论感兴趣。现在不兴二分法这种“绝对”了，兴的是fuzzy和deep learning。
世界上一切最后都能统合到资本上，但颠覆性创新的产品不是由资本直接创造的，而是知识。

alexapollo

Mar 10, 2014

书是值得读的。比较偏重公司管理？

min

Mar 11, 2014

37间公司?

jsonline

Mar 11, 2014

@min

> Call it the idrive-xdrive-swapdrive-freedrive phenomenon: suddenly thirty-seven > companies pop up offering exactly the same service for free.

是呀，有没有想起 37signals