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Something is usable if it behaves exactly as expected.

Joel Spolsky

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Joel Spolsky
Age: 59
Born: 1965
Born: January 1
Businessperson
Chief Executive Officer
Computer Scientist
Programmer
Software Engineer
Albuquerque
New Mexico
Avram Joel Spolsky
Expected
Exactly
Something
Usable
Behaves
Programming
Behave

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Design adds value faster than it adds cost.
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Last week I was listening to a podcast on Hanselminutes, with Robert Martin talking about the SOLID principles... They all sounded to me like extremely bureaucratic programming that came from the mind of somebody that has not written a lot of code, frankly.
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If something seems possible, that's probably because someone is already doing it. When something seems that it can't possibly work, nobody tries it. Real innovation happens when someone tries anyway, overlooking an obvious flaw, and finds a way to make an idea work.
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That's another flaw with performance-based rewards: They are easy for one of your competitors to top.
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The secret of Big Macs is that they're not very good, but every one is not very good in exactly the same way.
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Nothing works better than just improving your product.
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Common programmer thought pattern: there are only three numbers: 0, 1, and n.
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Software development takes immense intellectual effort. Even the best programmers can rarely sustain that level of effort for more than a few hours a day. Beyond that, they need to rest their brains a bit, which is why they always seem to be surfing the Internet or playing games when you barge in on them.
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Remember, just because Microsoft can do something, doesn't mean you can. Microsoft makes their own gravity. Normal rules don't apply to them.
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If your goals is to produce something of permanent value, you start to think differently about you want on the site.
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Good software, like wine, takes time.
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Listen to your customers, not your competitors.
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Writing code is not production, it's not always craftsmanship though it can be, it's design.
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We just have to come in every morning and somehow, launch the editor.
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Life is a bit hard sometimes, and sometimes you have to step up and fight fights that you never signed up for.
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An idea isn't worth that much. It's the execution of the idea that has value. If you can't convince one other person that this is something to devote your life to, then it's not worth it.
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Full service brokers, in this day and age of low cost mutual funds and discount brokers, are really nothing more than machines for ripping off retail investors.
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Entrepreneurship boils down to the simple fact that a team of really smart people who can get things done are going to get smart, useful things done.
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Shipping is a feature. A really important feature. Your product must have it.
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