By Paul Graham
May 2004
Pages: 272
ISBN 10: 0-596-00662-4 |
ISBN 13: 9780596006624
(Average of 5 Customer Reviews)
Written in clear, narrative style, Hackers & Painters examines issues such as the rightness of web-based applications, the programming language renaissance, spam filtering, the Open Source Movement, internet startups and more. In each essay, Graham moves beyond widely held beliefs about the way that programmers work as he tells important stories about the kinds of people behind tech innovations, revealing distinctions about their characters and their craft. No hackers reading this book will fail to recognize themselves within these pages. No programmer will put it down without new thoughts actively percolating.
Full Description
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.
And here's a taste of what you'll find in Hackers & Painters:
"In most fields the great work is done early on. The paintings made between 1430 and 1500 are still unsurpassed. Shakespeare appeared just as professional theater was being born, and pushed the medium so far that every playwright since has had to live in his shadow. Albrecht Durer did the same thing with engraving, and Jane Austen with the novel.
Over and over we see the same pattern. A new medium appears, and people are so excited about it that they explore most of its possibilities in the first couple generations. Hacking seems to be in this phase now.
Painting was not, in Leonardo's time, as cool as his work helped make it. How cool hacking turns out to be will depend on what we can do with this new medium."
Andy Hertzfeld, co-creator of the Macintosh computer, says about Hackers & Painters: "Paul Graham is a hacker, painter and a terrific writer. His lucid, humorous prose is brimming with contrarian insight and practical wisdom on writing great code at the intersection of art, science and commerce."
Paul Graham, designer of the new Arc language, was the creator of Yahoo Store, the first web-based application. In addition to his PhD in Computer Science from Harvard, Graham also studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence.
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Book details
First Edition: May 2004
ISBN: 0-596-00662-4
Pages: 272
Average Customer Reviews: (Based on 5 Reviews)
Featured customer reviews
From the mind of a master, November 13 2006
If you've never heard of Paul Graham, this book provides an excellent introduction. Paul is a hacker (in the original sense of the word), a technology innovator and a philosopher for the computer age. This book of essays runs the gamut from 'why nerds are unpopular' to fixing the spam problem to what makes a 'dream language'.
As Paul says in the intro, each chapter is independent of the others and you can skip around as you like. You'll get the general feel for Paul's ideas in all of the essays and some overlap is evident. I read the book straight through and enjoyed every chapter.
Paul is a master of the Lisp language and describes how some modern languages are heading in the direction of Lisp. To solve really tough problems in a less powerful language, you tend to end up writing a Lisp interpreter in that language. He also describes why everyone isn't using Lisp for every program they write.
If you are a hacker or hacker wannabe, this book offers excellent insight into the mind of a master. If you are a 'pointy-haired' manager, you'll get a better understanding of how truly talented programmers think. If you are involved in a startup company, this book describes several topics that might help give you a competitive edge.
Most of all, this is a really fun book that will earn a permanent space on your bookshelf.
Not alone, September 16 2004
The book does start slow, however as you read through it you start thinking to yourself, "yup", "uh-huh", "no way".....and the likes.
Over the past 4 years I am certain that many of us have felt the lack of creative spark. The last 4 years have basically beat us into submission. We hold back, stifle ourselves and as much as we hate it...regress a bit.
I have been through a whole slew of self-doubt, self-loathing and depression. I attributed this to choosing a career with which I could use the skills I grew up learing. I attributed this to the fact that though our knowledge and skill runs the nation and the world we are treated like information 'janitors'.
Paul has given me new thoughts. New ideas, and though I new that I was not alone this book helped to make me believe it. This book has lifted me up a bit, and I would recommend it to anyone who has not read Paul's works in the past.
Anyone who may have grown up with computers and technology as a hobby/passion. Anyone who sacrificed other activities as a child because they happened to be that one kid that 'knew' how to use the computers at school (and helped the instructor when needed).
Great book. Pick it up if you can.
It rocks! -- really got to where I live, June 21 2004
Hey, I'm sitting here, depressed in my cubicle, working for a major financial institution* and I'm wondering where my inspiration has gone?
The corporation has kicked it out of me. They don't want no stinkin' creativity. They just want you to show up. It's not about working, it's about having a job.
Creative people make noise and there's no room in this organization (the mighty corporation) for noise.
I'm tired of it!! The corpus has dragged me down. I can't take any more of the beatings. No more isolation. I'll stop making noise about things that don't make noise. Uncle!
Then I pick up this book, Hackers and Painters and I read chapter 2. I find someone else agrees with me.
I feel sane again.
I can't believe the way that Paul so lucidly describes the creative process. Amazing. Great reading and he creates a sense of empathy with the reader.
Wait a second. What is this turning within me? It feels like inspiration. Maybe there's some hope after all.
Thanks Paul, you rock!
*
I call it an institution, because I feel as if I'm being held against my will.
Paul's writing inspires me more than anything has in years, June 12 2004
I stumbled across Paul's website a year ago, and was severly shaken by his writing. His ideas have inspired me more than anything has in years. So much so, that I started writing my echoed thoughts in my O'Reilly blog.
His essay "Hackers and Painters" resonated with me because, coming from my music background, I had always felt that programming is like songwriting.
His essays about how the programming language shapes the way you think made me write about the glass ceiling I felt with new features I was learning.
But hands-down, his ideas on bottom-up programming have changed the entire way I look at all the programming I do.
THANK YOU Paul for the most inspiring essays I've read since Brian Eno. :-)
Short Review of Hackers & Painters, May 27 2004
In this book, the author views hackers
(i.e. programmers
who create imaginative solutions)
as makers like
painters, architects and composers.
The book consists of 15 short essays
(from 7 to 31 pages long)
on important topics related to the computer age.
If you find at least two of the following questions intriguing,
I suggest getting this book:
Why are nerds unpopular?
How are hackers and painters similar?
How can you tell what it's dangerous to say?
How is wealth created?
This book is provocative and you're likely to find your mind ablaze with ideas if you engage with it.
I've also written a longer review,
but I'm not sure where I'll put it.
It ends: "This book engages with some particularly important ideas involving hackers and the world we live in.
You do live in this world, right?
If so, read this book."
Media reviews
"Hackers & Painters is an unusual book. The issues at the centre of code, design and wealth have rarely been brought together in such lucid form. Reading it, I could immediately apply some of his more concrete ideas to my work; the more abstract inspired me."
--Steven Shingler, PingWales.co.uk, February 2005
"I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to think about a number of topics important to the culture of our tiny corner of the world, computers and the net, while not ignoring the rest."
--Tony Williams, Slashdot.org, June 2004
http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/06/07/0456241&tid=156&tid=185&tid=6
"Many of the essays are on his site, but the book is worth getting for the convenience, and especially, those that aren't. I want everybody I know to read 'How to Make Wealth' and 'Mind the Gap' (chapters 6 and 7)—which brilliantly articulate the most commonly, and frustratingly, misunderstood core economic principles of everyday life... And technology entrepreneurs will find it especially inspiring."
--Evan Williams, EVHead.com, December 2004
"...for computer scientists and hackers alike, this book should be a challenge and an inspiration."
--J. Mayer, Choice, November 2004
"As a hacker who also studied painting in Europe, Paul may be uniquely qualified to write a book entitled 'Hackers & Painters.' If you leave your day programming job only to get home and write more code, this is a great book for you."
--IT Conversations, July 2004
http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail164.html
"Graham presents ideas that explore and challenge the social and aesthetic notions we hold about the world of technology and ourselves."
--Theresa Carey, "MSDN Magazine," September 2004
Advance praise for "Hackers & Painters"
"Society has yet to understand the beauty and brilliance that wraps the coder. Graham's clear and engaging book does, and will teach anyone willing to listen. And if we're not to lose something important soon, we as a society should listen."
--Larry Lessig, Stanford Law School, author of Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace
"Paul Graham takes on big ideas writing with a grace, clarity and humor rare not only among his sister and brother geeks, but among the best writers anywhere. It'd be enough if Paul Graham thought through big ideas with such clarity and honesty. That he writes with grace and humor makes his ideas not only thought-provoking, but a delight to read. Paul has been building a cult-like status on the Internet for several years because of the honesty, grace and wit of his essays. Seeing his essays collected seals the deal: Paul Graham is a first-rate writer whose provocative take on big ideas can bump your opinions right out of their rut.''
--David Weinberger, co-author of "The Cluetrain Manifesto"
"Paul Graham writes about the human side of the often enigmatic world of computer programming. This book will help you remember the enjoyment you got from science class when science was a romp through the mud and woods, a class like art where making a mess is accepted as part of the process. Paul is a true hacker with a broad business experience, deep technical understanding, an uncontrollably inquisitive mind, and a wonderful writing style. His no-nonsense evaluation of the software industry may irritate some pundits and therefore is well worth reading.''
--Mike Smith, Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Harvard University
"Reading Paul's essays is like having a conversation with a genius who doesn't need to score any points by proving it to you, except that most geniuses aren't as articulate as he is. You get to share Paul's sense that the Universe is a fascinating place, and his knack for looking at it from an unusual angle.''
--Eric Raymond, author of The Cathedral and the Bazaar
"Paul Graham is smart and willing to tell you what he really thinks; it's a rare combination and not to be missed. This book will force you to re-think your ideas about the nature of computer programming.''
--Robert Morris, MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department
"Paul Graham is a hacker, a painter, and a terrific writer. His lucid, humorous prose is brimming with contrarian insight and practical wisdom on writing great code at the intersection of art, science and commerce. He may even make you want to start programming in Lisp.''
--Andy Hertzfeld, co-creator of the Macintosh computer
"'Hackers & Painters' embraces a profoundly humanist perspective, a refreshing contrast to many other books about computers. The prose is a joy, the math is straightforward, and what little code there is beautifully elegant. The result is a challenging series of essays on what should and does make hackers tick. As an introductory programming instructor, I'm always on the lookout for inspiring works to give to students. A high schooler,
college freshman, or any motivated lay person, can read Hackers & Painters and find out what, spiritually, designing and building great programs is all about. Highly recommended.''
--Brian M. Dennis, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern University
"Since programmers create programs out of nothing, imagination is our only limitation. Thus, in the world of programming, the hero is the one who has great vision. Paul Graham is one of our contemporary heroes. He has the ability to embrace the vision, and to express it plainly. His works are my favorites, especially the ones describing language design. He explains secrets of programming, languages, and human nature that can only be learned from the hacker experience. This book shows you his great vision, and tells you the truth about the nature of hacking.''
--Yukihiro "Matz'' Matsumoto, creator of Ruby
"Paul Graham, like nobody else, tells us what it means to be a hacker: to question, to explore, to create, to take sides, to go for the goal. A hacker's experiences force him to make judgments and to state his opinions. Paul's opinions---on public high schools as dreadful, mind-numbing prisons or on the design of programming languages as the art of making programs short---challenge you to think. They reveal bad flaws in the conventional wisdom, and they demand that we come up with good responses.
For a discipline like computing, which has fallen prey to fashionistas with strong and wrong opinions, Paul's essays set a refreshing, hopeful tone. They are for all those of us who have long felt that the discipline has been taken over by the pointy-haired bosses and academics. We should make sure this book becomes required reading for college students interested in computer science. There is no better way to make them question the fashions that they are about to encounter and to show them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel after all.''
--Matthias Felleisen Northeastern University
"The language of programmers is rich in references to art and industrial design. Paul Graham, whose training and experience spans these areas, offers an illuminating tour of this relationship in essays peppered with trenchant observation, humor, and art (some
visual, some parenthetical). Graham's style is enviably successful at communicating with students, while his guiding principles for programming language design should inspire a new generation of linguistic wonders.''
--Shriram Krishnamurthi, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Brown University
"Paul Graham tells it like it is, like it was, and like it will be. I learned much from reading 'Hackers & Painters.' This high-tech guru's essays are a joy to read in content, style, and wit. His insider view of the entire process of a startup is rivetting, and his guide on how to do it should be required for all high-tech gamblers.''
--Daniel P. Friedman, Indiana University
"A delightful ping-pong around the brain of a really smart guy. The chapter that answers the key question of our age--why *are* nerds unpopular?--is worth the price of admission alone."
--Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief, "Wired Magazine"
"What Paul does, and does very well, is to take ideas and concepts that are beautiful in the abstract, and brings them down to a real world level. That's a rare talent to find in writing these days."
--Jeff "Hemos" Bates, Director, OSDN Online; Co-evolver, Slashdot.org
"Paul Graham's 'Hackers & Painters' is one diverse book, but it doesn't matter if you're learning why nerds get beat up in high school, or the subtleties of language design and acceptance. Paul approaches each of his subjects with an entertaining insight that will make you smile and think. Highly recommended to anyone."
--Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda, Creator/Director, Slashdot.org
"A wonderful book and required reading. Paul helps others understand why I chose the name 'Software Arts' for the company Dan Bricklin and I started. Those who don't understand the language of software cannot consider themselves literate.
As the word 'innovation' becomes tamed and contained, we need to be reminded of the importance of the disruptive exploration. If you read the book and think you really understand what hacking and software is about and, worse, agree with Paul, then you miss the whole point of hacking."
--Bob Frankston
