NSFW Acronyms for Programmers
NSFW Acronyms for Programmers by Ben Ruckmanby Ben Ruckman
Shares rank 21 of 115 programming books by recommenders
Recommended as an easy, refreshing read that humorously summarizes programming's main points. Critics note the author wrongly treats tests as a reliability indicator.
Recommended as an easy, refreshing read that humorously summarizes programming's main points. Critics note the author wrongly treats tests as a reliability indicator.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 1 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: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 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
Easy to read, refreshing style
“this book is unexpectedly easy to read! Examples can a bit wonky at some spots, but the overall theme and feel seems very refreshing to me!”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “NSFW Acronyms for Programmers (Free eBook)” “I will certainly come back to the rest of the chapters but wanted to acknowledge your great writing.”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “NSFW Acronyms for Programmers (Free eBook)” Humorous, memorable examples
“I really liked the example of the discounts applied to the shopping cart”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “NSFW Acronyms for Programmers (Free eBook)” “I genuinely chuckled at the PISS one!”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “NSFW Acronyms for Programmers (Free eBook)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Wrongly treats tests as reliability
“the author incorrectly assumes that tests are used as a reliability indicator”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “NSFW Acronyms for Programmers (Free eBook)”
Other programming books people recommend
The four most recommended other programming books, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crafting Interpretersby Robert Nystrom | 60 | 4 | 94% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Clean Codeby Robert C. Martin | 31 | 87 | 26% | 9 | — | — |
| The Pragmatic Programmerby Hunt and Thomas | 28 | 1 | 97% | 7 | — | Approved |
| How to Design Programsby Felleisen, Findler, Flatt and Krishnamurthi | 18 | 2 | 90% | 7 | — | Approved |
| NSFW Acronyms for Programmersby Ben RuckmanThis page | 7 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
6 of the 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“pretty much summarized the main points of the book”
“I really liked the example of the discounts applied to the shopping cart”
“I will certainly come back to the rest of the chapters but wanted to acknowledge your great writing.”
“this book is unexpectedly easy to read! Examples can a bit wonky at some spots, but the overall theme and feel seems very refreshing to me!”
“the author incorrectly assumes that tests are used as a reliability indicator”
“I genuinely chuckled at the PISS one!”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.