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

by David S. Platt

Describes why computer software has become unreliable and offers suggestions on ways users can correct the situation.

Genres: Nonfiction, Technical, Programming, Technology, Design, Usability, Computers

260 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2006

Reviews

[Vladimir · Rating 1 out of 5]

Нытьё старого маразматика. В своё время, автор попал в струю, и на волне краха доткомов протащил эту книгу в массы. Тонна идиотских субъективных жалоб, то на неправильный шрифт, то на ненужную функцию.
По сути, отличное чтиво для тех, кто любит лишний раз вспомнить старые добрые времена с ярким солнцем и зеленой травой.

[Linda Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I began my career as a systems/software engineer back in the days of punch cards, FORTRAN, and mainframe computers and I have been a constant critic of how programmers write programs ever since the days of the first personal computers - this book says it all.

Software is written by people who, by the very nature of their profession, do not think like most other people. The result is that while the ways in which their programs work may make perfect sense to them, they may make little or no sense to their non-programmer users.

This is core of the problem with software that Platt, an acknowledged expert on Microsoft products, exposes. The book is mainly aimed at other software developer to try to get them to mend their ways, but it also makes good reading for the end-user of software. The end-user can gain some insights into the ways that software is developed and the thinking of programmers that might help them to make sense of the software that they have to use.

Yes, most software does suck - from an end-user's point of view - and if every software developer read this book, it would suck much less.

[Martyn Lovell · Rating 2 out of 5]

David Platt's 'Why Software Sucks' is a tour through the manifest problems of the software we used daily in ~2006. He does a decent and sometimes witty job of both identifying problems with the software in a witty and engaging way.

He also includes some material on software creators, culture, Microsoft and even technical conferences -- though much of this feels like filler somewhat away from the book's core mission.

Many of the basic flaws described in the book are true (or were true in 2006). But the presentation style means only a small set of the wide range of problems with software get coverage.

In addition, despite the cover page's 'and what you can do about it', there is not a lot of practical advice here, either for users or developers on what to do about the problems in software. As a software creator I was hoping to find an agenda or principles to address these issues, but there is little such material.

I'd have recommended this book to a non-technical audience who want to understand a bit about software. But given the age of this book it is frankly too dated to recommend for anything but tech history enthusiasts.

[Matteo Anelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sanctimonious prose full of bad or just skewed examples that try to prove something that should be taken for granted in business: just know your customers. The writer tries to give useful opinions on how a software should work better but most of the time they are just subjective hints or good examples of comitee decision by huge companies. The whole book is a race to the mythical programmer's fault, an assumption that the author fails to demonstrate properly, despite the huge array of loaded examples. The subtext of the book is still useful: plan your usability and interface right, for people that have no idea how software in general should work. The book is a good example of why you should always follow this simple rule: bad communication will be filled with irrelevant information or just noise. Well this book fills a lot of blanks left by bad interfaces (and so bad communication by software) but it won't mean these fillers are better than the initial issues.

[Joseph Workman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me say it again: Your. Users. Are. Not. You.

I just love the simplicity of this book and the driving concepts behind it. It not only about keeping software simple for users it's about remember who those users are and what their needs are.

I would suggest anyone that works with software should read and implement the simple philosophies in this wonderful book.

[Nathaniel Irvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Platt's audience with this book is the average user. Honestly, I'm not sure how well it would appeal to Joe Consumer, but as a software professional, I found this a very enlightening read. It makes you step back and think about how software is supposed to be used, and how that should guide how it should be designed. I re-read parts of it from time to time to remind myself to keep it simple and intuitive when it comes to user-interface design. His writing style is very personal and informal, which allows him to make his points very well. There are some things that I think he over-generalizes about, but the spirit behind what he says I always agree with.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved how the author tried to keep it as non-technical as possible. It made it seem more accessible to a much wider audience than the usual tech books I own. Lot of funny-but-true quips about how the software world works. As a software developer he manages to implore the community to do better, without demeaning them at all. My favorite motto: "Know thy user, for he is not thee." I also saw him speak once, and he was as engaging in the book as he was in person.

[Lubava Karelina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Книга про юзабилити простыми словами без "гиковской" терминологии.
Про необходимость выявления потребностей целевой аудитории, про то, что юзер - не Вы.
"Ваша дрель — лишь неизбежное зло на пути вашего пользователя к отверстиям."

Есть много отсылок к книге Алана Купера. И к Криптомикону =)
Полезно читать такие книги периодически, чтобы одергивать себя, что надо смотреть не только со стороны разработчика на проекты.

[Brandon Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really gets you thinking in a different way about the software that we use everyday. It's not really aimed at software developers specifically, so pretty much anyone who uses computers these days should get a kick out of this book.

[Rembo666 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I welcome any book that makes programmers think in a different direction from what they're used to. This book accomplishes that goal. While some of the comments are colored with author's own opinions, it raises many points and it is fun to read.

[Markus Mcclellan · Rating 3 out of 5]

might be the best computer book I've ever read. once you read past the author's uncanny and unique style of writing you will undoubtedly see the point of the book. its entertaining and educational. super quick and easy to read. the microsoft jokes alone are almost worth the read

[Rodolfo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book provides a critique and a great explanation, very humorous, about the problems that the softwares present today. Highly recomended.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts of strong, but sinks away in the middle. Too little content for a whole book here, but the writing is ok. I couldn't really recommend it .

[Annette McIntyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book that explains in jargon free language about software programmers and what we as users can do to draw their attention to the fact that a lot of their programming sucks.

[Serhii · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book sucks, not software

[Sergey Teplyakov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actually this book is not so bad, but you should know that the target audience is a IT-users but not a programmers. For programmer this book would looks boring.

[Jeff Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a little dated but still relevant.

[Svalbard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Se si passa sopra alla mania di tanta manualistica americana di dare del tu al lettore, e infarcire i testo di battute e storielle che vorrebbero essere divertenti, questo libro è alquanto interessante. Il software fa schifo sostanzialmente perché viene progettato da persone che vivono in una dimensione completamente loro - quelli che una cattiva traduzione definisce “secchioni”, ma penso che il termine originale fosse “nerds” o “geeks” - e che, essendo completamente scollegati dalla realtà, danno importanza a cose che non ne hanno nessuna e, peggio, viceversa. E��� una cosa di cui io stesso mi sono spesso reso conto: lasciando da parte prodotti ormai universali, come i sistemi operativi Microsoft o Office che un certo qual sforzo di venire incontro all’utente - con grande fatica - lo hanno fatto (e Platt non gli fa sconti, pur essendo un collaboratore strapagato di Microsoft), nel campo dei grandi sistemi gestionali sviluppati per aziende od enti pubblici ormai è un dato di fatto che le modalità operative costringano gli utenti ad appiattirsi su progetti sviluppati dai “secchioni”, capovolgendo completamente il rapporto cliente/fornitore: non è il fornitore che deve dare il prodotto che il cliente vuole, ma al contrario è il cliente che deve modificare comportamenti e scelte in funzione di quello che il fornitore gli da. Con dovizia di esempi questo libro parla di software, usabilità di siti web, sicurezza, e, con umorismo, di “secchioni”, delle loro abitudini completamente scollegate dalla comune dimensione relazionale e sociale, dell’ilare paradosso per cui spesso e volentieri sono proprio loro, quelli che preferiscono passare le notti al computer anziché con le ragazze (che peraltro probabilmente li schiferebbero), per i quali qualsiasi capo d’abbigliamento che vada oltre jeans e maglione è pura superfluità, per i quali spesso l’igiene personale è un optional, a tenere in pugno l’intero sistema economico.

[Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an old book (ancient in internet times) and didn't realized this book is for the user, not us developers. It does have a couple of gems for us, for example, we as developers need to always think about this when doing our work: "your user is not you!"

So, answering the questions in this book's title: Why software sucks? because developers are lazy. What can you do about it? complain (to the company, in online forums, through email, twitter, etc.) It goes into greater detail about this stuff.

[Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a reminder to think about why we need to be in the user’s perspective when we do programming, but the examples are outdated since they were published quite a while ago. So it would be interesting to people who want to compare modern web technology with the example ones from the book 🤔

Also, some jokes were funny, but most were a bit distracting.

[Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, if you don't understand, the culture... you can pretend? Or is that pretend you don't understand and lampoon it? This actually makes for pretty interesting reading, even though it is mostly historical.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fiercely incisive book for about 2/3 of it's length, then it slips into filler material that just pads out it's length.

[Jim White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, as I recall.

[Kris French · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have NO IDEA who the audience for this book is. Some really good insights sprinkled in the first half, and then goes completely off the rails. Don't waste your time.

[Darrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't all that impressed. There was a bit too much anecdotal fluff to this one.