Go to: The Story of the Math Majors, Bridge Players, Engineers, Chess Wizards, Scientists and Iconoclasts who were the Hero Programmers of the Software Revolution
by Steve Lohr
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Book Summary Information
Author: Steve LohrEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2001-10
ISBN: 0465042252
Number of pages: 275
Publisher: Basic Books
Book Reviews of Go to: The Story of the Math Majors, Bridge Players, Engineers, Chess Wizards, Scientists and Iconoclasts who were the Hero Programmers of the Software Revolution
Book Review: Storybook of software achievements
Summary: 5 Stars
Steve Lohr's Go To is a history of computer programming told through the experiences and accomplishments of individual programmers. According to the author, the progression of computer programming has not been realized by unexceptional coders methodically churning out incremental improvements. To the contrary, the progression of software engineering has been marked by breakthroughs accomplished by gifted programmers - programmers who have an innate, almost instinctive ability to innovate with code.
The author supports his thesis very effectively, describing an oral history of all major software breakthroughs in the last 60 years, from Fortran to Apache. In each case, a game-changing language or application was spearheaded by an extraordinary programmer. In many situations, other engineers did indeed contribute to the project, but without the instigator, the project may never have come to exist.
The author describes the origins of more than a dozen languages and applications, each a major achievement that enabled further progress. He tells how John Backus spearheaded Fortran, how Ken Thompson single-handedly created Unix, how Charles Simonyi developed Word, and how James Gosling invented Java. The only significant software innovation missing is email.
It was surprising to discover that most of the breakthrough software developed in the last half-century consists of languages and tools rather than applications. Instead of focusing their efforts on developing commercial software products, these exceptional engineers built tools to simplify the process of computer programming and make its practice accessible to more people.
Schoolchildren used to learn the history and colorful stories behind inventors and momentous inventions, e.g. Thomas Alva Edison and his light bulb, Henry Ford and his automobile assembly line, Alexander Graham Bell and his telephone. By and large, modern technological achievements are ignored in schools today - they are perceived as being realized incrementally, by numbers of faceless people, each building on top of their predecessor's accomplishment. Go To disproves that perception; extremely talented individuals have always been the driving force behind software breakthroughs.
This book is easy to read - it is well-organized and the writing is fluid and clear. I highly recommend Go To to anyone interested in the history of computer programming or the history of technology in general. Be prepared to enjoy some entertaining and educational stories about determined, gifted inventors who would no doubt make Edison proud.
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