FWIW, I keep reading because more often than not you write about interesting things in an interesting way, and I manage to learn something – despite the fact that I disagree as often as I agree, and despite the fact that you often don’t sufficiently understand what you’re writing about.
I also agree that more code = bad. I see this blog as highlighting the human side of software. There are plenty of blogs full of code excerpts.
In addition I don’t think implying a technology is “too hard” affects anyone’s credibility. I consider the posts here as opinions of a common 'er competent programmer. There is no “I’m an expert, bow to me” tone so I don’t understand the attack on credibility.
Chuckle, that you’re fortunate enough to have detractors at times means simply; you’re doing something right. I belive Benjamin Franklin is attributed as saying: ‘You can read about life, or you can live a life to read about’. Break-a-leg Jeff.
I think that it is reasonable to want the sources you read to address the real-world issues you encounter; but if that’s not what’s being advertised, there’s not much basis for complaint (like buying a cat and being upset it doesn’t fetch).
I find less than 10% of my job as a software engineer is about programming. Most of it is trying to keep teams working together, using good processes, and asking the right questions.
What’s funny to me is that 90% of the blog content is about the 10% of the job. Jeff’s not different from the other bloggers in that regard (Joel is one of a few notable exceptions).
Caveat emptor.
Jeff Atwood,
This is the first blog ever that I felt is worth my time to read every day.
As a programmer, I am die-hard suspicious of everything new, social, and that seems like a fad.
I read other blogs now, but I think I gain the most from this one (most of the time).
So. Thanks.
I personally love the fact that what you write is your opinion and your take on subjects. While I may not 100% agree with you all the time, I can always see where you’re coming from and the new point of view can open up other avenues for learning.
The silly part of this criticism, as with most criticisms, is that someone is taking you too seriously. Your writing style, much like my own conversational style, is very strong. What people don’t realize is that that doesn’t mean you’re firmly attached to your beliefs.
but, but, everything about PHP really does suck!
Although I don’t know you, I’m a little baffled at the criticism and comments added to the post. All I can imagine is that it boils down to jealousy. I think it is disingenuous to say that giving up your previous software development job to strike out on your own equals that you now think of yourself as a “professional.” Others called you clearly a “generalist.” However, I don’t recall you ever saying you were something special. In fact your self-effacing blog posts more than indicate taht you are expressing ideas as a molecule for discussion to build, rather than expressing that your ideas should hold particular sway.
I am envious of your position (which I firmly hold that you earned) that you can make some form of living from blogging and do something for which you a lot of passion. That does not cloud my judgment about the posts you write. Some ideas I agree with, some I disagree with. That is the nature of things.
To not read your posts because they no longer meet the criteria for blog reading is also fine. However, I am sure that this is not the reason that they stopped reading. I have stopped reading Slashdot except for the headlines. I didn’t try to convince others to stop reading because they “suck.” Clearly they are jealous of your success, or else they would not have had reason to try to “prove” why they are right in not reading your blog. Don’t let that mentality get to you.
An update to Coding Horror is a moment of excitement that I enjoy in my feed reader. Its flavour has to be savoured before the other feeds.
The two most consistent characteristics, apart from excellent preparation and research, I observe in Jeff’s work are his humility and his adherence to the birth rather than the end of discussion claim.
Yes, not everyone will find him near-perfect, but then well guided brickbats like ‘Blogging Horror’ can only help in calibrating the blog writing.
In reading this, a logical discontinuity seemed to come up.
First you said you can’t really respond to all criticism, and secondly you said you were an amateur seeking knowledge.
If you were really seeking knowledge, I’d love to see a summary after each set of comments saying what you had learned from the rest of the community.
Without some form of feedback like that, you really are setting up a one-way authoritative communication mechanism, at least from our point of view.
Also, remember that even people who reply negatively to a given post still read your post, considered it and felt strongly enough to reply, so that shouldn’t be taken as a negative at all, but an attempt to do the same thing you are doing–create a community where we are all students of each other.
Simply not reading or not replying is a much stronger message–just not a very loud one.
The list of comments on any posting on this blog is usually substantially longer than the posting itself. In my opinion that is a pretty strong indicator of success regardless of their polarity in regard to the subject. This is my favorite blog. If I agreed with everything in here then it wouldn’t be.
As a student in computer science, it’s all too easy to find professors that act like the know-it-all authorities because of their inhuman grasp of computer and algorithm theory, and yet the same professors haven’t coded in years and think C++ is a bad language.
For me, this blog is like my down-to-earth connection. It’s a link to the real world of software development and I find myself learning lessons here that I would never learn in class.
An authority figure is probably not what I would consider you on the field, but what I take to heart is your real-world experience and passion for coding done right. From this I get something from this that I wouldn’t get anywhere else.
My hope is that you continue to code and work in this business and continue to learn from experience, so those of us with our hands a little less dirty with code can learn something useful from your experience.
So, keep doing what you’re doing Jeff. Share your experience with the world. Know that you are making a difference for many of us.
So you can’t be an expert unless you learn C? Oh please! This is someone’s blog and one that allows comments too. It’s not like this is a book that purports to be an authority. If you don’t agree with the author, post your dissent in the comments section.
And for crying out loud, only fools and unsure morons write in a non-strong voice.
BTW, how can he critique stackoverflow when the site is not even in private beta yet?
It’s weird. I find myself agreeing with practically everything you say.
I wonder why, because you’re an administrator on StackOverflow, he thinks you are placing yourself as an authority figure in software design. Maybe since I’m a newcomer to your blog, I haven’t noticed the change, but I don’t see why he would stop reading it.
Oh well, not my dilemma.
Thanks for all your hard work, Jeff!
@ PrimeSonic: Dude, C++ is a bad language, and I say that as somebody who had to sit through a lecture by Bjarne Stroustrup himself (which he spent defending C++) 
I appreciate the explanation of your approach. Things like the implicit invitation to discussion don’t always come through as we hope, especially in pure text communication. I for one thought your PHP post was kinda asinine, but that’s probably because I like the language a fair bit (while acknowledging it has several flaws), and it made me grumpy. Keeping that sense of humor would have been a good move there.
I like your work even more now. Thanks for posting this.
Well, congratulations on resisting going right for the jugular in response. In the same situation I’d have attempted to bring him down in the same way, but then you’re better than that - something you no doubt know, considering your 75,000 subscriptions and 50,000 page daily page imprints.
I did just read Alistair’s entire posting and the dialog between you in the comments. The one that really got me began with something like ‘I don’t wish to sound patronizing…’ and ended with probably one of the most patronizing criticisms he offers.
If he doesn’t like the ‘smackdown principle’ then that makes his commentary even more disgusting. And as for you not being credible because your posts don’t contain any source, well if I want source I’ll right click and ‘View Source’.
Honestly, some people. Think I may have to go and blog about it myself!
I think some of the criticism is spot on, in that Jeff is definitely not an authority on programming, in general, or even development.
Let’s detail a few specific criticisms:
-
As I have seen (and sometimes commented on) many times, Jeff’s blog IS superficial. I still remember the “exceptions take a trip through kernel space” statement… sigh.
-
Jeff tends towards exaggerations and sweeping generalizations. He just did that again: “…almost nobody really knows what they are doing. It is amateurs who make all the progress…”.
I am sure the very professional guys at JPL and NASA are happy to hear that. I guess all that work they did for some of the toughest systems software projects in history is just guesswork…
I also kind of disagree, being the kind of professional who takes quality seriously. Like all engineers, sometimes I have to make do with limited information. But an educated guess is better than just a guess. And if possible, I also try not to guess. I estimate, calculate, think, learn. I am a proud to be professional. -
It is obvious to me that Jeff sometimes forget that web programming and windows programming are only two types of many kinds of software. It’s also quite obvious that he knows very little about those other kinds. It seems to me that almost any time Jeff strays from those subjects, he makes mistakes (factual or others).
However, despite everything, I still read the blog.
Why? Because Jeff is usually honest, passionate, a good writer, and seldom engages in narcissism.
Sometimes the blog is superficial, but makes up for it by covering a wide range of interesting subjects. It can teach one a lot, but one needs to be very careful and double check stuff.
As long as Jeff doesn’t set himself up as an expert (and I don’t see him doing it), it’s OK.