software design
i enjoy learning about 
computer-science-history, programming-languages, and 
characters in computing, but also about how software can be built today to ensure robust, maintainable, usable systems. below are books, sites, and essays that have disproportionately affected my views.
books
- a philosophy of software design - john ousterhout
- design patterns: elements of reusable object-oriented software - also known simply as “design patterns”. the four authors are known as the “gang of four” (GoF) often (which is actually a historical reference to the gang of four in maoist communist history.
sites
essays
- software disenchantment - a fabulous essay on the bloat, ridiculousness, and general depravity of modern software as well as the development process - and generally how bad things have become
- big ball of mud - this design pattern is kind of amazing. there is a tongue-in-cheek element to the essay but it is actually a pattern that you see in large companies and enterprise software more generally. its amazing to know that this pattern has continued to be witnessed since 1997. you can read the wikipedia page on this anti-pattern here
- write posix shell - an essay in praise, defense, and celebration of shell as a language. ALL HAIL POSIX SHELL! ALL SNAIL POSIX SHELL!
- you cant sit on the sidelines and become a philosopher
- towards a more elvish vision for technology - george strakhov
- outcome is not a state, but a process
- resources are not materials, but agents
- information is not just an input, but an output as well