release it

One of the problems most every software developer struggles with is shipping code. I recently picked up the book Release It! as a potential source of inspiration.

Unfortunately, while the author has many good points about finding performance bottlenecks and faults in your application, the insistence of the author to talk about Java everywhere has made the book a lot less enjoyable. The author takes several opportunities to dismiss Ajax (much like Bruce Eckel of Thinking in Java fame has been doing lately), and yet the author’s failure to show examples in PHP, Python, or any other programming language other than Java make me question how much value the book really adds for non-Java developers.

It’s a shame as the author really does seem to know how to solve performance and release problems. I guess I probably would not have bought the book if it was named the more appropriate title of “Java Release It”. For now, I’m still finding more value from Theo’s Scalable Internet Architectures and Cal’s Building Scalable Web Sites.

Leave a Reply