The Bug [Hardcover]

If you are interested in programming, all of the programming talk will probably be interesting, but the basic storyline is very lacking. the ending is also pretty lame. all in all, i wouldn't recommend this book unless you're interested in programmning, and even then its a little bit of a snore. sorry ms. ullman.

On the plus side, this book was an easy read; Ullman is a fluid, entertaining writer, and can explain the technical details with a poet's perspective. She realistically describes the typical life of a programmer -- the meetings, swarms of elusive bugs, demanding schedules, the thrills of working on cutting-edge projects, the quirky humor of programmers, and so on. Interspersed with the action are philosophical musings about computer technology, "real" life, and the parallels between the two. Furthermore, as she did so well in "Close to the Machine," Ullman is able to describe the supremely logical world of software development and draw us into it to make us sense and understand the source of programmer's excitement and frustration. Like Ullman herself, the novel's narrator was not a computer programmer at first, but drifted into it. The result is a fresh, lively, fluid description of computer technology that a pure, "hard-core" techie probably couldn't capture.

On the minus side, the novel had just a few drawbacks. First, the ultimate outcome for the main character was slightly disappointing for me (I won't reveal the conclusion here, though I will say I could think of a slightly better ending). Second, others have complained that the bug turned out to be too simple once it was found; however, I think that the complexity (or lack thereof) of the bug is besides the point of the novel, since its elusive nature is what drives the novel and characters forward. Third, Ullman tries to make the novel have two main characters -- Roberta, a software tester whose narration dominates the beginning and end of the novel, and Ethan, the programmer whose actions dominate the middle of the novel. The shifts between these two voices are mildly disorienting, and having a single character narrating the entire story would have been slightly better.

Overall, though, I believe the plusses outweigh the minuses, and I'd recommend this novel to any budding computer programmer, or anyone interested in software or technology. If you enjoyed other books in this vein -- "The Soul of a New Machine" or "Microserfs" or Ullman's previous book, "Close to the Machine" -- then you'll enjoy this one. Despite the technical subject matter, this novel is ultimately more about the characters than it is about the technology, so I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in the human side of the technology equation.