Beautiful Code: Leading Programmers Explain How They Think (Paperback)

How do the experts solve difficult problems in software development? In this unique and insightful book, leading computer scientists offer case studies that reveal how they found unusual, carefully designed solutions to high-profile projects. You will be able to look over the shoulder of major coding and design experts as they work through their project's architecture, the tradeoffs made in its construction and when it was important to break rules.

How do the experts solve difficult problems in software development? In this unique and insightful book, leading computer scientists offer case studies that reveal how they found unusual, carefully designed solutions to high-profile projects. You will be able to look over the shoulder of major coding and design experts to see problems through their eyes.

This is not simply another design patterns book or another software engineering treatise on the right and wrong way to do things. The authors think aloud as they work through their project's architecture, the tradeoffs made in its construction and when it was important to break rules.

Beautiful Code is an opportunity for master coders to tell their story. All author royalties will be donated to Amnesty International.

About the Author

S. Andy Oram is an editor at O'Reilly Media, which is a highly respected book publisher and technology information provider. An employee of the company since 1992, Andy currently specializes in free software and open source technologies. His work for O'Reilly includes the first books ever published commercially in the United States on Linux and the 2001 title Peer-to-Peer. His modest programming and system administration skills are mostly self-taught. Andy is also a member of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and writes often for the O'Reilly Network and other publications. Topics include policy issues related to the Internet and trends affecting technical innovation and its effects on society. Andy works at the O'Reilly office in Cambridge, Massachusetts and lives nearby with his wife, two children and a six-foot grand piano that can often be heard late at night.

Greg Wilson holds a Ph. D. In Computer Science from the University of Edinburgh and has worked on high-performance scientific computing, data visualization and computer security. He is the author of Data Crunching and Practical Parallel Programming (MIT Press, 1995) and is a contributing editor at Doctor Dobb's Journal and an adjunct professor in Computer Science at the University of Toronto.