Frustrated by the lack of well-written essays on software engineering,Joel Spolsky (of www.joelonsoftware.com fame) has put together a collection of his favorite writings on the topic.

With a nod to both the serious and funny sides of technical writing,The Best Software Writing I: Selected and Introduced by Joel Spolsky is an entertaining read and a guide to the technical writing literati.

The Best Software Writing I contains writings from:

Ken ArnoldLeon BambrickMichael BeanRory BlythAdam Bosworthdanah boydRaymond ChenKevin Cheng and Tom ChiCory Doctorowea_spouseBruce EckelPaul FordPaul GrahamJohn GruberGregor HohpeRon JeffriesEric JohnsonEric LippertMichael LoppLarry OstermanMary PoppendieckRick SchautAaron SwartzClay ShirkyEric Sinkwhy the lucky stiff

Joel Spolsky is a globally recognized expert on the software development process. His web site Joel on Software (JoelonSoftware.com) is popular with software developers around the world and has been translated into over 30 languages. As the founder of Fog Creek Software in New York City, he created FogBugz, a popular project management system for software teams. Joel has worked at Microsoft, where he designed Visual Basic for Applications as a member of the Excel team, and at Juno Online Services, developing an Internet client used by millions. He has written two books: User Interface Design for Programmers (Apress, 2001) and Joel on Software (Apress, 2004). Joel holds a bachelor's of science degree in computer science from Yale University. Before college, he served in the Israeli Defense Forces as a paratrooper, and he was one of the founders of Kibbutz Hanaton.

Style is Substance.- Award for the Silliest User Interface: Windows Search.- The Pitfalls of Outsourcing Programmers.- Excel as a Database.- ICSOC04 Talk.- Autistic Social Software.- Why Not just Block the Apps that Rely on Undocumented Behavior?.- Kicking the Llama.- Save Canadas Internet from WIPO.- EA: The Human Story.- Strong Typing vs. Strong Testing.- Processing Processing.- Great Hackers.- The Location Field is the New Command Line.- Starbucks Does Not Use Two-Phase Commit.- Passion.- C++The Forgotten Trojan Horse.- How Many Microsoft Employees Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb?.- What to Do When Youre Screwed.- Larrys Rules of Software Engineering #2: Measuring Testers by Test Metrics Doesnt.- Team Compensation.- Mac Word 6.0.- A Group is Its Own Worst Enemy.- Group as User: Flaming and the Design of Social Software.- Closing the Gap, Part 1.- Closing the Gap, Part 2.- Hazards of Hiring.- Powerpoint Remix.- A Quick (and Hopefully Painless) Ride Through Ruby (with Cartoon Foxes).