It's a modern classic (2000). It's less technical and more about the history behind the idea/theories of coding itself. It also explains some basic principles of how computers work, at a high level. Very well written.
Charles is great at explaining how computers actually work with circuit diagrams from the ground up in a way that's articulate, clear, and engaging. I think I learned more from this book than I did in my CS architecture class.
The historical context he puts it in helps with clarity since it's easier to understand when you know how each successive step built on the previous one.
In addition to the Dream Machine, I'd also mention Steven Levy's Hackers as an obvious one to read.
Some others I've read:
- What the dormouse said (this one was just okay, but interesting to see some of the cultural context at the time).
- Crypto (about the history of cryptography). I really liked this one, but people I've recommended it to found it dry.
- In the Plex (history of Google)
- Masters of Doom (John Carmack, John Romero and Id Software)
Related Fiction:
- Microserfs
- The Soul of a New Machine
- The Phoenix Project (fiction paired with the Dev Ops Handbook)
The dev ops handbook is a good compliment for real world examples. I’ve personally seen good dev ops turn things around and make products way better.
On a side note, people keep recommending masters of doom to me, I definitely need to check it out myself.
There's a software-industry version of that book about the startup Ask Computer Software killing it in the MRP business software space with a product called MANMAN. Maybe somebody remembers the title?
It's like reading a long version of one of Paul Graham's essays.
Some of the things it covers:
- Ask's actual relationships with customers. One of them interviews all other existing clients before buying (like 200 companies.)
- the software team dynamics. One "rockstar" polyfills over all the weird OS bugs at the time, so the others can work on the actual application.
Ask eventually acquired Ingres.
I guess the narrative style made it feel like a novel to me and I just impulsively classified it incorrectly.