Download PDF of this issue.
Welcome to the fifty-seventh issue of De Programmatica Ipsum, about Dress Code. In this edition, we investigate the history and role of fashion in the software industry; in the Library section, we review "Peopleware" by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister; and in our Vidéothèque section, we learn what Mayuko Inoue wears every day to work.
The French have a very intimate relationship with clothing. This should not be a surprise, given the sheer size and impact of their renowned fashion industry, arguably one of the biggest contributors to France's GDP.
The archetype of software engineering dress code is quite parochial: a t-shirt (usually featuring a conference or programming language logo, or a geek joke), a pair of jeans, snickers, and a sweatshirt, in case the weather gets more San Francisco-like than you might expect. And that is it. Let us admit it: the "about us" page of software companies often looks like advertising for The Gap, American Apparel, or sometimes even, sadly, Abercrombie & Fitch, minus the abs, of course.
One of the saddest realizations of my career in the software industry has been discovering that no "Human Resources" manager I have worked with had heard about "Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams" by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister. Not a single one. I'm not even talking about having read it, but at least knowing of its existence. None. Nothing. Nada.