The author examines issues such as the rightness of web-based applications, the programming language renaissance, spam filtering, the Open Source Movement, Internet startups and more. He also tells important stories about the kinds of people behind technical innovations, revealing their character and their craft.

* Our summary is short, simple and pragmatic. It allows you to have the essential ideas of a big book in less than 30 minutes. By reading this summary, you will discover how hacking is a refined and sophisticated discipline, and how it relates to painting. You will also discover : that very often, under the glasses of the hacker and the pimply-faced nerd, badly bundled and mistreated, hides a magnificent intelligence and a rare sensitivity; the common points between pictorial composition and the art of creating code; the rudiments of the discreet and subtle art of computer programming; the keys to innovation. Behind many of the great fortunes that marked their time and continue to do so today, hackers are often hiding, in the good sense of the word, people from the world of programming, of code: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison or Mark Zuckerberg. Computing is a formidable springboard for those who know how to "halt and catch fire", as IBM puts it. The code is a means of expression and determines, just like a painter, what the coder wants to reveal to the world and about himself. It is a musical and pictorial score in which its creators challenge the individual through a beautiful language composed of zeros and ones. *Buy now the summary of this book for the modest price of a cup of coffee!

Discover the techniques behind beautiful design by deconstructing designs to understand them The term 'hacker' has been redefined to consist of anyone who has an insatiable curiosity as to how things work—and how they can try to make them better. This book is aimed at hackers of all skill levels and explains the classical principles and techniques behind beautiful designs by deconstructing those designs in order to understand what makes them so remarkable. Author and designer David Kadavy provides you with the framework for understanding good design and places a special emphasis on interactive mediums. You'll explore color theory, the role of proportion and geometry in design, and the relationship between medium and form. Packed with unique reverse engineering design examples, this book inspires and encourages you to discover and create new beauty in a variety of formats. Breaks down and studies the classical principles and techniques behind the creation of beautiful design Illustrates cultural and contextual considerations in communicating to a specific audience Discusses why design is important, the purpose of design, the various constraints of design, and how today's fonts are designed with the screen in mind Dissects the elements of color, size, scale, proportion, medium, and form Features a unique range of examples, including the graffiti in the ancient city of Pompeii, the lack of the color black in Monet's art, the style and sleekness of the iPhone, and more By the end of this book, you'll be able to apply the featured design principles to your own web designs, mobile apps, or other digital work.

The computer world is like an intellectual Wild West, in which you can shoot anyone you wish with your ideas, if you're willing to risk the consequences. --from Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, by Paul Graham We are living in the computer age, in a world increasingly designed and engineered by computer programmers and software designers, by people who call themselves hackers. Who are these people, what motivates them, and why should you care? Consider these facts: Everything around us is turning into computers. Your typewriter is gone, replaced by a computer. Your phone has turned into a computer. So has your camera. Soon your TV will. Your car was not only designed on computers, but has more processing power in it than a room-sized mainframe did in 1970. Letters, encyclopedias, newspapers, and even your local store are being replaced by the Internet. Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, by Paul Graham, explains this world and the motivations of the people who occupy it. In clear, thoughtful prose that draws on illuminating historical examples, Graham takes readers on an unflinching exploration into what he calls an intellectual Wild West. The ideas discussed in this book will have a powerful and lasting impact on how we think, how we work, how we develop technology, and how we live. Topics include the importance of beauty in software design, how to make wealth, heresy and free speech, the programming language renaissance, the open-source movement, digital design, internet startups, and more.

"The computer world is like an intellectual Wild West, in which you can shoot anyone you wish with your ideas, if you're willing to risk the consequences. " --from Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, by Paul Graham We are living in the computer age, in a world increasingly designed and engineered by computer programmers and software designers, by people who call themselves hackers. Who are these people, what motivates them, and why should you care? Consider these facts: Everything around us is turning into computers. Your typewriter is gone, replaced by a computer. Your phone has turned into a computer. So has your camera. Soon your TV will. Your car was not only designed on computers, but has more processing power in it than a room-sized mainframe did in 1970. Letters, encyclopedias, newspapers, and even your local store are being replaced by the Internet. Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, by Paul Graham, explains this world and the motivations of the people who occupy it. In clear, thoughtful prose that draws on illuminating historical examples, Graham takes readers on an unflinching exploration into what he calls "an intellectual Wild West." The ideas discussed in this book will have a powerful and lasting impact on how we think, how we work, how we develop technology, and how we live. Topics include the importance of beauty in software design, how to make wealth, heresy and free speech, the programming language renaissance, the open-source movement, digital design, internet startups, and more.

The must-have business guide for visual artists, written by the leading specialist in the global art trade

This text introduces the spirit and theory of hacking as well as the science behind it all; it also provides some core techniques and tricks of hacking so you can think like a hacker, write your own hacks or thwart potential system attacks.

* Covers three years of the best essays. * Essays range from technical to humorous, but are always tangible. * Beautifully written and extremely timely. * Google lists 183,000 links for "Joel on Software". * Spolsky is one of the most popular programmers around today, with legions of followers.

Teaching users new and more powerful ways of thinking about programs, this two-in-one text contains a tutorial--full of examples--that explains all the essential concepts of Lisp programming, plus an up-to-date summary of ANSI Common Lisp. Informative and fun, it gives users everything they need to start writing programs in Lisp and highlights innovative Lisp features.