Sushi vs burgers

Joel Spolsky has a great book review this month that tears into the meaty topic of why Windows and UNIX programmers are so different. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not because Windows sucks, nor (as suggested by the comments here) is it because Windows programmers are all brainwashed. Joel claims it’s a simple matter of cultural differences, and that’s true to a very large extent. In my own career, I’ve written code for VMS, various flavors of UNIX, Windows, and the classic Mac OS, and I can certainly finger the cultural differences that underlie each of their APIs and programming models. It’s just that one cultural assumption most UNIX programmers bring is that if it’s not done their way it’s wrong… how very American of them.
And, since Jeremy wondered why Joel has a fan club… he writes consistently interesting essays. Whether or not you agree with them, they’re always thought-provoking, which is more than can be said of lots of other writers.