×
Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date.
For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now.

Available on Compatible NOOK Devices and the free NOOK Apps.
WANT A NOOK?
Explore Now
5.99
In Stock
Overview
Hello, world.
Facebook's algorithms shaping the news. Self-driving cars roaming the streets. Revolution on Twitter and romance on Tinder. We live in a world constructed of code--and coders are the ones who built it for us. From acclaimed tech writer Clive Thompson comes a brilliant anthropological reckoning with the most powerful tribe in the world today, computer programmers, in a book that interrogates who they are, how they think, what qualifies as greatness in their world, and what should give us pause. They are the most quietly influential people on the planet, and Coders shines a light on their culture.
In pop culture and media, the people who create the code that rules our world are regularly portrayed in hackneyed, simplified terms, as ciphers in hoodies. Thompson goes far deeper, dramatizing the psychology of the invisible architects of the culture, exploring their passions and their values, as well as their messy history. In nuanced portraits, Coders takes us close to some of the great programmers of our time, including the creators of Facebook's News Feed, Instagram, Google's cutting-edge AI, and more. Speaking to everyone from revered "10X" elites to neophytes, back-end engineers and front-end designers, Thompson explores the distinctive psychology of this vocation--which combines a love of logic, an obsession with efficiency, the joy of puzzle-solving, and a superhuman tolerance for mind-bending frustration.
Along the way, Coders thoughtfully ponders the morality and politics of code, including its implications for civic life and the economy. Programmers shape our everyday behavior: When they make something easy to do, we do more of it. When they make it hard or impossible, we do less of it. Thompson wrestles with the major controversies of our era, from the "disruption" fetish of Silicon Valley to the struggle for inclusion by marginalized groups.
In his accessible, erudite style, Thompson unpacks the surprising history of the field, beginning with the first coders -- brilliant and pioneering women, who, despite crafting some of the earliest personal computers and programming languages, were later written out of history. Coders introduces modern crypto-hackers fighting for your privacy, AI engineers building eerie new forms of machine cognition, teenage girls losing sleep at 24/7 hackathons, and unemployed Kentucky coal-miners learning a new career.
At the same time, the book deftly illustrates how programming has become a marvelous new art form--a source of delight and creativity, not merely danger. To get as close to his subject as possible, Thompson picks up the thread of his own long-abandoned coding skills as he reckons, in his signature, highly personal style, with what superb programming looks like.
To understand the world today, we need to understand code and its consequences. With Coders, Thompson gives a definitive look into the heart of the machine.
Facebook's algorithms shaping the news. Self-driving cars roaming the streets. Revolution on Twitter and romance on Tinder. We live in a world constructed of code--and coders are the ones who built it for us. From acclaimed tech writer Clive Thompson comes a brilliant anthropological reckoning with the most powerful tribe in the world today, computer programmers, in a book that interrogates who they are, how they think, what qualifies as greatness in their world, and what should give us pause. They are the most quietly influential people on the planet, and Coders shines a light on their culture.
In pop culture and media, the people who create the code that rules our world are regularly portrayed in hackneyed, simplified terms, as ciphers in hoodies. Thompson goes far deeper, dramatizing the psychology of the invisible architects of the culture, exploring their passions and their values, as well as their messy history. In nuanced portraits, Coders takes us close to some of the great programmers of our time, including the creators of Facebook's News Feed, Instagram, Google's cutting-edge AI, and more. Speaking to everyone from revered "10X" elites to neophytes, back-end engineers and front-end designers, Thompson explores the distinctive psychology of this vocation--which combines a love of logic, an obsession with efficiency, the joy of puzzle-solving, and a superhuman tolerance for mind-bending frustration.
Along the way, Coders thoughtfully ponders the morality and politics of code, including its implications for civic life and the economy. Programmers shape our everyday behavior: When they make something easy to do, we do more of it. When they make it hard or impossible, we do less of it. Thompson wrestles with the major controversies of our era, from the "disruption" fetish of Silicon Valley to the struggle for inclusion by marginalized groups.
In his accessible, erudite style, Thompson unpacks the surprising history of the field, beginning with the first coders -- brilliant and pioneering women, who, despite crafting some of the earliest personal computers and programming languages, were later written out of history. Coders introduces modern crypto-hackers fighting for your privacy, AI engineers building eerie new forms of machine cognition, teenage girls losing sleep at 24/7 hackathons, and unemployed Kentucky coal-miners learning a new career.
At the same time, the book deftly illustrates how programming has become a marvelous new art form--a source of delight and creativity, not merely danger. To get as close to his subject as possible, Thompson picks up the thread of his own long-abandoned coding skills as he reckons, in his signature, highly personal style, with what superb programming looks like.
To understand the world today, we need to understand code and its consequences. With Coders, Thompson gives a definitive look into the heart of the machine.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780735220577 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Penguin Publishing Group |
Publication date: | 03/26/2019 |
Sold by: | Penguin Group |
Format: | NOOK Book |
Pages: | 448 |
Sales rank: | 679,862 |
File size: | 1 MB |
About the Author
Clive Thompson is a longtime contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and a columnist for Wired. He is the author of Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 The Software Update That Changed Reality 1
Chapter 2 The Four Waves of Coders 27
Chapter 3 Constant Frustration and Bursts of Joy 59
Chapter 4 Among the INTJs 87
Chapter 5 The Cult of Efficiency 117
Chapter 6 10X, Rock Stars, and the Myth of Meritocracy 147
Chapter 7 The ENIAC Girls Vanish 185
Chapter 8 Hackers, Crackers, and Freedom Fighters 229
Chapter 9 Cucumbers, Skynet, and Rise of AI 267
Chapter 10 Scale, Trolls, and Big Tech 305
Chapter 11 Blue-collar Coding 343
Acknowledgments 377
Notes 381
Index 423
Customer Reviews
Related Searches
Explore More Items
Equal parts great American road-trip narrative and coming-of-age novel, this brilliant story from a debut ...
Equal parts great American road-trip narrative and coming-of-age novel, this brilliant story from a debut
novelist is a treat for the diehard nerds and fans among us. -Refinery29Valerie Torrey took her son, Alex, and fled Los Angeles six years agoleaving both ...
From the national bestselling author of the Gaslight Mysteries comes the first Counterfeit Lady novel—the ...
From the national bestselling author of the Gaslight Mysteries comes the first Counterfeit Lady novel—the
intriguing start of a historical mystery series featuring woman-on-the-run Elizabeth Miles.Like most women, Elizabeth Miles assumes many roles; unlike most, hers have made her a ...
An exciting new book in the series featuring Elizabeth Miles, con woman turned Lady, from ...
An exciting new book in the series featuring Elizabeth Miles, con woman turned Lady, from
the beloved national bestselling author of the Gaslight Mysteries.Elizabeth Miles finds herself in a position no con can help her escape. Her beloved fiancé, Gideon ...
“Terrific…full of shocks and twists you won’t see coming—unputdownable and highly recommended!”—Lee Child, #1 New ...
“Terrific…full of shocks and twists you won’t see coming—unputdownable and highly recommended!”—Lee Child, #1 New
York Times bestselling authorThe electrifying debut thriller that asks the question: To save the one you love, is there any price you wouldn’t pay? ...
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERThe extraordinary memoir of a peasant boy raised in rural Maoist China who ...
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERThe extraordinary memoir of a peasant boy raised in rural Maoist China who
was plucked from his village to study ballet and went on to become one of the greatest dancers of his generation. From a desperately poor village ...
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Gabriel Allon series presents the second ...
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Gabriel Allon series presents the second
thriller featuring former CIA Agent Michael Osbourne, following The Mark of the Assassin.When the Good Friday peace accords are shattered with three savage acts of terrorism, ...
The author of City of Lies returns to nineteenth-century New York City to find Christmas in ...
The author of City of Lies returns to nineteenth-century New York City to find Christmas in
the air, a police detective and a midwife with love in their hearts, and a wealthy widow accused of murder… Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy ...
Now in mass market paperback, the ideal read for anyone who's a fan of Christmas ...
Now in mass market paperback, the ideal read for anyone who's a fan of Christmas
or dogsor both!Sophie Kinsella.When a surprise break-up and a gas leak in her apartment leave Charlie single and homeless for the holidays, there's only one ...