Book Review - The Best of Verity Stob by Verity Stob
Category Book Reviews
OK... this was a fun read... The Best of Verity Stob by Verity Stob (Apress).
Fine, Tom... so what's a Verity Stob?
Eh, it's a fair question... One I asked myself when I received the book. Verity Stob is a long-time columnist for tech publications such as EXE, Dr. Dobb's Journal, and The Register. She's British, so her take on things is definitely outside the normal American experience. This book is a collection of various columns from 1998 through 2004, with a bit of unpublished stuff thrown in for good measure. In addition, she's commented on each item with the aid of 20/20 hindsight. The book is divided into four parts: Life Before GUIs (1988-1994), The Rasp Of The Modem (1995-19100), After The Apocalypse (2000-2004), and Previously Unpublished.
To be honest, I was only vaguely familiar with her name before getting the book. I never read EXE, I've never been a DDJ fan, and The Register only pops up on my radar screen when Google News Alerts gives me something from there. Reading the intro, I quickly became a Stob fan. Her writing is witty and satirical, and it's almost as if she's having a conversation with the reader. That combination usually hooks me immediately. Now couple all that with a walk down memory lane, since I've been involved with computers since the very early '80s. "STOB versus the Software Engineers" reminded me of far too many code reviews. "Not Fairies' Footfalls" will be familiar to all programmers at some time in their career. And "You May Start" will resonate with anyone who's taken a certification exam...
Not being a Brit, I'll admit to some of the humor being a bit beyond me. But there's more than enough here to amuse and entertain any developer who's gone through the corporate wars. Or, if you're not a techie but just like creative and unique writing styles, give The Best a try. Definitely worth the time to sit back and laugh at where we've all been...
OK... this was a fun read... The Best of Verity Stob by Verity Stob (Apress).
Fine, Tom... so what's a Verity Stob?
Eh, it's a fair question... One I asked myself when I received the book. Verity Stob is a long-time columnist for tech publications such as EXE, Dr. Dobb's Journal, and The Register. She's British, so her take on things is definitely outside the normal American experience. This book is a collection of various columns from 1998 through 2004, with a bit of unpublished stuff thrown in for good measure. In addition, she's commented on each item with the aid of 20/20 hindsight. The book is divided into four parts: Life Before GUIs (1988-1994), The Rasp Of The Modem (1995-19100), After The Apocalypse (2000-2004), and Previously Unpublished.
To be honest, I was only vaguely familiar with her name before getting the book. I never read EXE, I've never been a DDJ fan, and The Register only pops up on my radar screen when Google News Alerts gives me something from there. Reading the intro, I quickly became a Stob fan. Her writing is witty and satirical, and it's almost as if she's having a conversation with the reader. That combination usually hooks me immediately. Now couple all that with a walk down memory lane, since I've been involved with computers since the very early '80s. "STOB versus the Software Engineers" reminded me of far too many code reviews. "Not Fairies' Footfalls" will be familiar to all programmers at some time in their career. And "You May Start" will resonate with anyone who's taken a certification exam...
Not being a Brit, I'll admit to some of the humor being a bit beyond me. But there's more than enough here to amuse and entertain any developer who's gone through the corporate wars. Or, if you're not a techie but just like creative and unique writing styles, give The Best a try. Definitely worth the time to sit back and laugh at where we've all been...
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