So I've returned from four days in Russia, which by today's journalistic standards, qualifies me as an expert on all things Russian—language, history, art, transportation, eating, drinking, technology...you name it. And so it is with good authority and a clear conscience that I say you can get tasty cappuccinos in Moscow, with not a Starbucks in sight.
The other thing I learned in Russia is that the country aims to become a software powerhouse—and it may be on its way to pulling that off. Exports of Russian programming products increased by 80 percent in 2006, up from $1 billion worth in 2005 to $1.8 billion in 2006. Moreover, trade officials expect that number to multiply ten times by 2010.
As in other countries that are making high-tech pushes, the government is encouraging the development of IT-oriented technology parks by giving tax breaks to companies specializing in IT, in part to compensate for the rising salaries in the field.
To illustrate, Valentin Makarov, president of RUSOFT (a software trade association), points to Intel as one company that has made serious inroads into the Russian high-tech landscape. Intel currently has about 2000 software engineers in Russia, the highest concentration outside the U.S., with the goal of bringing the number to 5000. These engineers are distributed among five research centers—Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, and Sarov—and work on the full range of tools and technologies, from Java to optimizing compilers.
No, Harry Helms wasn't my tour guide in Russia and, based on his most recent book, I don't know that I want him as my tour guide in the U.S. either. His Top Secret Tourism: Your Travel Guide to Germ Warfare Laboratories, Clandestine Aircraft Bases, and Other Places in the United States You're Not Supposed to Know About is just that: A book that takes you to fun-filled places like Mercury, Nevada—the Nevada Test Site which "is the most heavily nuked piece of real estate on the planet." The Nevada Test Site is larger than Rhode Island and the place where "126 above-ground tests were conducted along with over 800 underground tests." Any travel book with chapters that begin with "be sure to top off your gas tank" is a book for serious (some might say "deranged") tourists. Harry is also author of the now-out-of-print The Underground Frequency Guide, a book that did for shortwave radio users what e-mail did for Alberto Gonzalez. Check out Top Secret Tourism at www.topsecrettourism.com. I'm passing on the Russian edition.
And speaking of books...well at this writing, it's not yet a book, but it's getting close. At whatever stage, however, Beautiful Code: Leading Programmers Explain How They Think is a beautiful project. Edited by Andy Oram and DDJ contributing editor Greg Wilson (and soon to be published by O'Reilly & Associates), this is a book you'll want to have.
What's is it about? Beautiful Code is a series of chapters written by programmers (many of them DDJ authors) who share what they consider to be "beautiful code"—code that is carefully designed and often unusual, but which solves a problem in an elegant way. It is code that acknowledges that trade-offs are made, and rules broken. It is code that gets the job done.
At least, I think that's what beautiful code is. When I asked Greg if he could define beautiful code in two or three sentences, he replied that if he could, he wouldn't have needed to put together an entire book. It's also worth noting that author royalties will be donated to Amnesty International.
Finally, recall that in the April issue we honored Grady Booch as this year's Dr. Dobb's Excellence in Programming award recipient. Because at the last minute, Grady couldn't make the trip to accept the award at the SD West 2007 Conference, we presented it to him in Second Life. We were in California, Grady in Colorado. For a project that had no rehearsal, no equipment check, and every opportunity for me to make a fool of myself, it went surprisingly well. You can see for yourself at www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5tcv3xSYgM where we've posted a video of the virtual event. Thanks again to Grady Booch for being such a good sport.
Jonathan Erickson
Editor-in-Chief
