Robert L. Glass

Many great advances in technology have resulted from risky experimentation, but it's critical to remember and study the spectacular failures that also resulted from some of those risks. Failures can be mundane, like the typical complaints of software projects that are behind schedule and over budget, while others can be much more extravagant. In Computing Calamities, Robert L. Glass has collected war stories from around the industry. Laugh at these mistakes, and learn from them. Someone else's failure could be the foundation of your success.

If you, like the author, feel that software construction is primarily a problem-solving activity, all problem-solving requires creativity, software problem-solving is deeply complex, and software problem-solving requires the ultimate in creativity, then this book is for you. In Software Creativity, Robert L. Glass answers the question, "Which is more important in software construction: Brilliant process or brilliant people coming down solidly on the side of people?". Glass draws on more than 30 years of personal experience as a software engineer and educator to present an unorthodox approach to software problem-solving that suggests solutions lie not in discipline, formality, and quantitative reasoning - but in flexibility, creativity, and qualitative reasoning.