Doctor Dobbs Journal

I've read a couple of time this magasine and I found
some articles pretty interesting.

Do you think that this publication is worth a read for the Software Engineer.

I wanted to have your feedack as I do not live
in the US the, subscription is a bit expensive...

Snacky
Sunday, September 14, 2003

If it expensive in your country, consider that you can find almost all information on the web.

Evgeny Gesin /Javadesk/
Sunday, September 14, 2003

Dr. Dobb's Journal is a great publication, and I recommend reading it if possible. However, like someone else noted most of the material published there is also published on their online site.

Shlomi Fish
Sunday, September 14, 2003

Be careful subscribing, I did and never got an issue or a refund. Very poor service.

Tony E
Sunday, September 14, 2003

DDJ is one of the magazines I recently stopped subscribing to.

While it used to be an excellent magazine, in the past few years I've seen less and less content that fits what I need.

Is there a decent magazine that covers general software developement anymore?

RocketJeff
Sunday, September 14, 2003

What with there being no such thing as "General Software Development," I think you're going to have a tough time finding a magazine that covers it.

To be honest, I quite like C/C++ User's Journal. Not every article is useful, but I usually find something interesting in most issues. If you don't write much C or C++ though, you'll find this magazine very dull.

Clay Dowling
Sunday, September 14, 2003

Man, I still have a most of the original DDJs from the 70's.  A friend gave 'em to me in the mid 80's.  Great articles like "6502 or 6800: which should you choose?"  or "TinyBasic source" (all of the source code necessary for a 4K basic interpreter, if I remember correctly).

Plain white covers and printed on a Xerox, I guess.

Doug Ross
Sunday, September 14, 2003

CUJ has gotten VERY thin the last several months.  Kinda makes me feel like a dinosaur.

Sunday, September 14, 2003

Verity Stob is worth 4 pounds 50 of anyone's money.

The thinness seems to be lack of advertising rather than copy which is almost as much as its been in recent years.  Oh for the thick, card like issues of Dr Dobbs and his Journal of Orthadonture.

Simon Lucy
Sunday, September 14, 2003

By "General Software Development" I mean something like Computer Language magazine or DDJ were in their prime - a wide variety of interesting articles about computers and software developement. They didn't stick to a single language or OS - they showcased the interesting and/or cutting edge.

CUJ is still on my reading list, but it has gotten thinner (probably due to lack of advertising & lower subscriptions now that the boom is long over).

RocketJeff
Sunday, September 14, 2003

I'm still mourning the sad demise of C++ Report....

Sunday, September 14, 2003

Have you guys noticed a lot of technical mags have turned completely thin? Dunno why. I think partly it's to do with the code listings becoming a password-protected downloadable link (for programming mags in this case).. but it's a surprise to see mags  like Computer Shopper  (who used to have heap upon heap of PC vendor ads) shrinking to nothing. Maybe most of them just don't see as much a return on their ad money.

Li-fan Chen
Monday, September 15, 2003

I can't wait for the phone companies to start passing out DVDs filled with compressed XML-based geomatic+contact databases instead of heaps of yellow pages you get. Assuming each full page ad takes up 6 megabytes uncompressed (3000x2000 dots).. the Metro Toronto phone book would only take up 1 DVD disc to stored all the map data/contact info/payable maps.

Li-fan Chen
Monday, September 15, 2003

The main reason I held on to my subscription to DDJ was the Al Stevens column. When that went away, I let my subscription lapse.

CUJ is my current favorite, but I let that one lapse too. I now scan it on the newsstand before buying.

MSJ was once good, but now it's just another heading in the MSDN magazine, which is pretty much all .NET these days. Yawn.

Troy King
Monday, September 15, 2003

I like Software Development Magazine, http://www.sdmagazine.com/

It's excellent.

James Molinsky
Monday, September 15, 2003

At one time I was considering a subscription to CUJ. However, the subscription rates turned me off.

For delivery to the U.S.: USD$24.95. Reasonable.

For delivery to Canada: USD$46.  Yow!!!! I figure that's more for postage than for the magazine!  Hey, we're talking about Canada, not Elbonia.

I wrote off to CMP asking why the differential was that much, as U.S. postal rates to Canada don't explain all of the uplift.  I got no response.

Screw'em.

David Jones
Monday, September 15, 2003

Re: rates to Canada v/s US

Actually, if you understand the US postal rate tables, it makes perfect sense.

In the US, magazines have a special low rate that they get mailed at (if the magazine meets certain criteria for the number of actual subscribers). This rate doesn't apply for delivery to other countries, however.

This means that the difference isn't just between normal US and foreign rates, it's the difference between a highly discounted US rate and the normal foreign rate.

A lot of publishers, if they have many Canadian subscribers, will bulk-ship into Canada and then remail via Canada Post or (if they have a lot of subscribers) just use a printing company in Canada for the 'Canadian' edition.

CUJ probably doesn't have enough Canadian subscribers to make either one worthwhile.

RocketJeff
Monday, September 15, 2003

what happened to 'byte'?  Ah, the days when I read byte and ddj, the days before I got into linux journal, ah ....

I recommend National Geographic instead; read something way from work!

i like i
Monday, September 15, 2003

I think the thinness of magazines is part of the deprofessionalization of software development. Not enough people read them because not enough people care. In hundreds of interviews i've conducted very few people did any personsal professional development at all. Very few read any magazines at all.

valraven
Monday, September 15, 2003

I find ACM Queue good for general stuff.
May be a bit abstract for your taste though.
Most of the articles are online.

http://www.acmqueue.org/

MugsGame
Monday, September 15, 2003

"Verity Stob is worth 4 pounds 50 of anyone's money."

Anyone want to translate this into American?

Jim Rankin
Monday, September 15, 2003

I don't agree it's due to deprofessionalism.

Used to be you got journals your up to the minute stuff and textbooks for compilations of what is known.

The books are still there but the journals are all happening on the web.

This is happening in other academic fields too -- fewer papers and thinner journals and yet more articles and stuff happening than ever before.

Media has evolved. Paper journals for pay are disappearing. People have moved to the new format.

Dennis Atkins
Monday, September 15, 2003

"Verity Stob" is the pseudonym of a columnist in DDJ magazine.  Presumably, Simon meant that the column alone was worth the price of the magazine.

Phillip J. Eby
Monday, September 15, 2003

>Media has evolved. Paper journals for pay are >disappearing. People have moved to the new format.

My larger point is out of hundreds of people i have interviewed less than 5% read anything at all.

valraven
Monday, September 15, 2003

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