Apress publishes another collection of essays on software development If you’ve been promoted into management and are no longer a hands-on developer, you could be excused for not following the Joel On Software blog, by Joel Spolsky. Joel On Software remains one of the best read blogs out there on software development. I don’t always have time to read Joel’s blog, so it was a nice treat when Apress sent me a copy of “More Joel On Software” the second book of essays from his blog. I was a bit skeptical whether the blog would translate into book format, but it works better than I would have expected. It’s an excellent book, covering a wide range of topics around software development, management, navigating the complexities of product compatability, hiring, how to motivate developers, how to build great products and more. Having worked at Microsoft early in his career, Spolsky even takes you behind the scenes through his first “BillG review” on Microsoft Excel. There’s also a review of the book “Dreaming in Code” which documents the long-delayed Chandler open source email and calendaring project. What makes Joel on Software work so well is the personality and humor that comes through in the writing. At 320 pages, Spolsky covers a wide range of topics in a breezy fashion. You may not really care about summer internships or the difference between computer science and software development, but Spolsky writes in such a way as to make it a compelling topic. It’s a great blog and a great book. Open Source