Joel on Software
Shares rank 20 of 26 newsletters by recommenders
Recommended for getting readers interested in programming books and for its writing; one reader only came to enjoy it years later.
Recommended for getting readers interested in programming books and for its writing; one reader only came to enjoy it years later.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Sparked interest in programming books
“Believe it was the Joel on Software blog who got me interested in those type of books”
Comment from 22 Oct 2026 in “No more icons in every menu by default” Liked alongside Coding Horror
“I liked Joel on Software, I liked Coding Horror”
Comment from 26 May 2026 in “Nobody cracks open a programming book anymore” Readers miss its writing
“I miss his writing, I haven't seen a post by him in a while.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Joel Spolsky: Painless Software Schedules (2000)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Took years to appreciate
“I didn't really enjoy Joel's writing until years later into my career.”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Anti-patterns in software blogging”
Other newsletters people recommend
The four most recommended other newsletters, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Zitron newsletter | 46 | 42 | 52% | 12 | — | — |
| Simon Willison's blog | 21 | 2 | 91% | 9 | — | Approved |
| SemiAnalysis | 20 | 12 | 63% | 8 | — | — |
| acoup.blog | 19 | 0 | 100% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Joel on SoftwareThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Believe it was the Joel on Software blog who got me interested in those type of books”
“I didn't really enjoy Joel's writing until years later into my career.”
“I liked Joel on Software, I liked Coding Horror”
“I miss his writing, I haven't seen a post by him in a while.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.