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The Architecture of Open Source Applications

184 points by kachnuv_ocasek 15y ago

codeslush 15y ago
Better title: "A must read for anyone involved in software development!" I wonder if this will become required reading for CS students? I haven't read the entire contents, but browsed through a few of the chapters. REALLY GREAT WORK! Very interesting lessons learned and just overall review of choices made with some of these apps. I'll definitely come back to this and finish reading.
rbranson 15y ago
Going to be pedantic and say that the NoSQL section is a bit off saying Dynamo-like systems "shard." This carries with it the connotation that the distributed aspects of the database are an afterthought or an add-on feature.
presty 15y ago
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2704765 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2704765 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2619553 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2619553 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2598643 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2598643
acangiano 15y ago
"Architects look at thousands of buildings during their training, and study critiques of those buildings written by masters. In contrast, most software developers only ever get to know a handful of large programs well — usually programs they wrote themselves — and never study the great programs of history. As a result, they repeat one another’s mistakes rather than building on one another’s successes. This book’s goal is to change that." Excellent point.
swlkr 15y ago
It's free but I bought a copy anyway. The first paragraph was all I needed to see.
- hexagonc 15y ago
  I was hooked on the section covering Berkeley DB design and will be recommending this to pretty much all the developer friends I know. I even put up with registering on Lulu to pay for the PDF version. I am so sick of registering for things and creating new accounts, although I saw it as a necessary evil in this case. Can federated identity get here any sooner?
buro9 15y ago
Available on Kindle too, nice as my programmer bookshelf is becoming a little heavy.
limist 15y ago
Excellent. The book has a hacker's dedication too: "Dedicated to Brian Kernighan, who has taught us all so much; and to prisoners of conscience everywhere."
- gwern 15y ago
  When I saw that, I rather wondered what the conjunction was supposed to imply; I still wonder.
  - angrycoder 15y ago
    The proceeds for the book go to amnesty international.
wallflower 15y ago
"How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built " by Stewart Brand (of Whole Earth fame). Highly recommend it. I've lost track of how many copies (10?) I've given as gifts to friends. TLDR: The bones of a building determine how adaptable it is to reskinning and structural change. If you don't have the right bones, you will have to tear the building down and it will not adapt over time. Adaptable systems have a backbone that lets them be stable during change. http://www.amazon.com/How-Buildings-Learn-Happens-Theyre/dp/0140139966 http://www.amazon.com/How-Buildings-Learn-Happens-Theyre/dp/...
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
stephth 15y ago
This is an such an awesome initiative. But it could do with more games. I'm surprised that none of the open source Quake engines are in there.
schiptsov 15y ago
YACPB - Yet Another Copy-n-Paste Book.. ^_^

184 points by kachnuv_ocasek 15y ago

Better title: "A must read for anyone involved in software development!" I wonder if this will become required reading for CS students? I haven't read the entire contents, but browsed through a few of the chapters. REALLY GREAT WORK! Very interesting lessons learned and just overall review of choices made with some of these apps. I'll definitely come back to this and finish reading.

rbranson 15y ago

Going to be pedantic and say that the NoSQL section is a bit off saying Dynamo-like systems "shard." This carries with it the connotation that the distributed aspects of the database are an afterthought or an add-on feature.

presty 15y ago

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2704765 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2704765 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2619553 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2619553 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2598643 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2598643

acangiano 15y ago

"Architects look at thousands of buildings during their training, and study critiques of those buildings written by masters. In contrast, most software developers only ever get to know a handful of large programs well — usually programs they wrote themselves — and never study the great programs of history. As a result, they repeat one another’s mistakes rather than building on one another’s successes. This book’s goal is to change that." Excellent point.

swlkr 15y ago

It's free but I bought a copy anyway. The first paragraph was all I needed to see.

hexagonc 15y ago
I was hooked on the section covering Berkeley DB design and will be recommending this to pretty much all the developer friends I know. I even put up with registering on Lulu to pay for the PDF version. I am so sick of registering for things and creating new accounts, although I saw it as a necessary evil in this case. Can federated identity get here any sooner?

buro9 15y ago

Available on Kindle too, nice as my programmer bookshelf is becoming a little heavy.

limist 15y ago

Excellent. The book has a hacker's dedication too: "Dedicated to Brian Kernighan, who has taught us all so much; and to prisoners of conscience everywhere."

gwern 15y ago
When I saw that, I rather wondered what the conjunction was supposed to imply; I still wonder.
- angrycoder 15y ago
  The proceeds for the book go to amnesty international.

wallflower 15y ago

"How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built " by Stewart Brand (of Whole Earth fame). Highly recommend it. I've lost track of how many copies (10?) I've given as gifts to friends. TLDR: The bones of a building determine how adaptable it is to reskinning and structural change. If you don't have the right bones, you will have to tear the building down and it will not adapt over time. Adaptable systems have a backbone that lets them be stable during change. http://www.amazon.com/How-Buildings-Learn-Happens-Theyre/dp/0140139966 http://www.amazon.com/How-Buildings-Learn-Happens-Theyre/dp/...

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

stephth 15y ago

This is an such an awesome initiative. But it could do with more games. I'm surprised that none of the open source Quake engines are in there.

schiptsov 15y ago

YACPB - Yet Another Copy-n-Paste Book.. ^_^