Make Better Software

At the heart of Joel's philosophy is hiring smart people who get things done. The first module covers this in depth, from recruiting to internships to the interview process. You'll learn how to identify great candidates and build a great team.

A great software team needs more than just programmers. You'll learn how program managers, QA, and others contribute to building a complete software product.

The physical environment; offices, desks, and chairs-is far more important than most people think. Fog Creek has been famously obsessive about creating a utopian developer environment, with private offices, free lunch, and height-adjustable desks. You'll learn how to make an office that works for your team and improves your bottom line.

Fog Creek Software invented the most reliable method for shipping software on time and on schedule, like clockwork. It's called Evidence Based Scheduling, and you'll learn how to apply it to accurately predict when software projects will be ready.

From vision to the customer, you'll learn about the different stages in a software development project and how software is built the Fog Creek way.

Great software is more than just functional. Great software makes people fall in love. You'll learn how to go beyond making merely functional software: you'll learn what it takes to make a hit product.