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

by Platt, David S.

• ISBN13: 9780321466754
• ISBN10: 0321466756
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-09-21
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional

Summary

"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 softwarehow 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 humorsometimes 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 of

Author Biography

David S. Platt runs Rolling Thunder Computing (www.rollthunder.com), an education and consulting practice. He has more than twenty years of experience as a programmer, teaches software development at Harvard University Extension School and at companies all over the world, and is a popular speaker at conferences. He is the author of nine previous books—including Introducing Microsoft .NET, Third Edition, The Microsoft Platform Ahead, and Understanding COM+ (all Microsoft Press)—as well as many journal articles and newsletters. In 2002, Microsoft designated him a Software Legend. Dave lives in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xiii
INTRODUCTION	1	(8)
1. WHO'RE YOU CALLING A DUMMY?	9	(22)
Where We Came From	10	(1)
Why It Still Sucks Today	11	(2)
Control versus Ease of Use	13	(2)
I Don't Care How Your Program Works	15	(4)
A Bad Feature and a Good One	19	(4)
Stopping the Proceedings with Idiocy	23	(3)
Testing on Live Animals	26	(2)
Where We Are and What You Can Do	28	(3)
2. TANGLED IN THE WEB	31	(34)
Where We Came From	32	(2)
How It Works	34	(3)
Why It Still Sucks Today	37	(3)
Client-Centered Design versus Server-Centered Design	40	(6)
Where's My Eye Opener?	46	(6)
It's Obvious—Not!	52	(4)
Splash, Flash, and Animation	56	(3)
Testing on Live Animals	59	(2)
What You Can Do about It	61	(4)
3. KEEP ME SAFE	65	(32)
The Way It Was	66	(1)
Why It Sucks Today	67	(4)
What Programmers Need to Know, but Don't	71	(6)
A Human Operation	77	(3)
Budgeting for Hassles	80	(3)
Users Are Lazy	83	(4)
Social Engineering	87	(5)
Last Word on Security	92	(1)
What You Can Do	93	(4)
4. WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?	97	(22)
Where We Came From	97	(1)
Why It Still Sucks Today	98	(1)
Incompatible Requirements	99	(7)
OK, So Now What?	106	(13)
5. WHO'RE YOU LOOKING AT?	119	(30)
Yes, They Know You	119	(3)
Why It Sucks More Than Ever Today	122	(3)
Users Don't Know Where the Risks Are	125	(2)
What They Know First	127	(2)
Milk You with Cookies?	129	(9)
Privacy Policy Nonsense	138	(2)
Covering Your Tracks	140	(1)
The Google Conundrum	141	(4)
Solution	145	(4)
6. TEN THOUSAND GEEKS, CRAZED ON JOLT COLA	149	(20)
See Them in Their Native Habitat	149	(1)
All These Geeks	150	(3)
Who Speaks, and When, and about What	153	(5)
Selling It	158	(3)
The Next Generation of Geeks— Passing It On	161	(8)
7. WHO ARE THESE CRAZY BASTARDS ANYWAY?	169	(20)
Homo Logicus	170	(1)
Testosterone Poisoning	171	(2)
Control and Contentment	173	(2)
Making Models	175	(2)
Geeks and Jocks	177	(2)
Jargon	179	(2)
Brains and Constraints	181	(2)
Seven Habits of Geeks	183	(6)
8. MICROSOFT: CAN'T LIVE WITH 'EM AND CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT 'EM	189	(34)
They Run the World	189	(1)
Me and Them	190	(3)
Where We Came From	193	(2)
Why It Sucks Today	195	(4)
Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don't	199	(4)
We Love to Hate Them	203	(4)
Plus ca Change	207	(4)
Growing-Up Pains	211	(3)
What You Can Do about It	214	(6)
The Last Word	220	(3)
9. DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT	223	(18)
1. Buy	224	(5)
2. Tell	229	(3)
3. Ridicule	232	(1)
4. Trust	233	(4)
5. Organize	237	(4)
EPILOGUE	241	(2)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR	243

Excerpts

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. This isn't news to you, is it? You're not dumb, contrary to what that yellow-and-black book series would have you believe. Today's software really does suck, as you've always thought. That's why you laughed when you read the title of this book. And it wasn't a voluntary laugh, either, was it? You didn't read the title and think to yourself, "Hey, that's kinda funny, I think I'll laugh." No. The title touched a nerve, like a smell knifing through your cerebral cortex to your reptilian midbrain, and you burst out with an involuntary, explosive laugh. When you started thinking again, you probably thought something like, "Hey, cool! Here's a guy (an articulate, credentialed, handsome, and modest one, too, by the look of things) telling it like it is, saying in print what I've always thought. About time, too." Indeed it is. This book explains in nontechnical, jargon-free language exactly how this situation came about, and what you can do to change it. "Damn right I'll buy it! And copies for my friends, too." Excellent idea. Told you that you weren't a dummy, didn't I? Fifteen years agoeven tenordinary people didn't use software in their daily lives. My parents did not send e-mail birthday cards to their granddaughters, or expect me to send them digital photos that way. They balanced their checking accounts on a paper register and maintained their schedules by writing in ink on paper calendars with pretty pictures. The few people who did regularly use software usually had to as part of their jobsfor example, travel agents using airline reservation systems to issue tickets. These people used small, custom-tailored applications that required expensive, proprietary hardware and extensive training and ongoing support and that weren't useful for any other purpose. The World Wide Web was this geeky thing for wooly haired academics. Most people didn't even know it existed, let alone that you could steal music or download dirty pictures from it. That's changed completely, almost overnight in societal terms, and seemingly without our noticing it. My parents now use a financial software package to manage their checking accounts, which pays bills electronically so that they don't run out of stamps, and automatically shows electronic deposits and cleared checks as they arrive at the bank. Not only do they want granddaughter photos by e-mail, but they're also asking for live streaming video. With unlimited high-speed access available to home users for about $40 per month, the Web has accomplished what proponents of nuclear power predicted and never managed to do, which is become too cheap to meter. It's now so ubiquitous that the state of Pennsylvania has removed its motto, "The Keystone State," from its automobile license plates and replaced it with the state Web address, www.state.pa.us . Florida has done Pennsylvania one better, keeping its slogan but replacing the state name with the Web address MyFlorida.com . And the travel agent's profession has been largely wiped out by ordinary people having cheap, easy access to information that once required very