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Paul Graham
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Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age 1st Edition

by Paul Graham (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 721 ratings
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"The computer world is like an intellectual Wild West, in which you can shoot anyone you wish with your ideas, if you're willing to risk the consequences. " --from Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, by Paul Graham

We are living in the computer age, in a world increasingly designed and engineered by computer programmers and software designers, by people who call themselves hackers. Who are these people, what motivates them, and why should you care?

Consider these facts: Everything around us is turning into computers. Your typewriter is gone, replaced by a computer. Your phone has turned into a computer. So has your camera. Soon your TV will. Your car was not only designed on computers, but has more processing power in it than a room-sized mainframe did in 1970. Letters, encyclopedias, newspapers, and even your local store are being replaced by the Internet.

Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, by Paul Graham, explains this world and the motivations of the people who occupy it. In clear, thoughtful prose that draws on illuminating historical examples, Graham takes readers on an unflinching exploration into what he calls "an intellectual Wild West."

The ideas discussed in this book will have a powerful and lasting impact on how we think, how we work, how we develop technology, and how we live. Topics include the importance of beauty in software design, how to make wealth, heresy and free speech, the programming language renaissance, the open-source movement, digital design, internet startups, and more.

Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    0596006624
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0596006624
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    O'Reilly Media
  5. Publication date
    May 1, 2004
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    5.87 x 0.98 x 8.78 inches
  8. Print length
    258 pages
  9. See all details
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From the Publisher

Hacker Culture A to Z: A Fun Guide to the Fundamentals of Cybersecurity and Hacking Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age
Hacker Culture A to Z Hackers Hackers & Painters
Customer Reviews
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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Price $19.20 $15.81 $15.49
From O'Reilly Media A Fun Guide to the Fundamentals of Cybersecurity and Hacking Heroes of the Computer Revolution Big Ideas from the Computer Age

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paul Graham , designer of the new Arc language, was the creator of Yahoo Store, the first web-based application. His technique for spam filtering inspired most current filters. He has a PhD in Computer Science from Harvard and studied painting at RISD and the Accademia in Florence.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ O'Reilly Media; 1st edition (May 1, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 258 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0596006624
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0596006624
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.22 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.87 x 0.98 x 8.78 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 721 ratings

About the author

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Paul Graham

Paul Graham
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Paul Graham (born 13 November 1964) is an English computer scientist, venture capitalist, and essayist. He is known for his work on Lisp, for co-founding Viaweb (which eventually became Yahoo! Store), and for co-founding the Y Combinator seed capital firm. He is the author of some programming books, such as: On Lisp (1993), ANSI Common Lisp (1995), and Hackers & Painters (2004).

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Crédit photo: Sarah Harlin [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
721 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

David Bridgeland
5.0 out of 5 stars An astonishingly good book of essays
Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2004
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This is an astonishingly good collection of essays. In lesser hands, any of the 15 essays here could have been a book by itself --- each packs more content than you can find in a typical one idea business book, or a typical one technology book for geeks. Yet his book is not dense or difficult: Graham's graceful style is a pleasure to read.
But what is it? Is it a business book, or a technical book? A bit of both actually, with a pinch of social criticism thrown in. There are essays on business --- particularly startups --- and essays on programming languages and how to combat spam, and one delightful one on the difficulty being a nerd in American public schools.
My favorite essay of the 15 --- and picking a favorite is itself a challenge --- is called "What you can't say". It is about heresy, not historical Middle Ages burned-at-the-stake heresy, but heresy today in 2004. And if you believe nothing is heretical today, that no idea today is so beyond the pale that it would provoke a purely emotional reaction to its very utterance, then read some of the other reviews. Graham's idea is not that all heresies are worth challenging publicly, or even that all heresies are wrong, but merely that there is value is being aware of what is heretical, so one can notice where the blind spots are.
Astonishingly good.
69 people found this helpful
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Ben_Davidow
5.0 out of 5 stars new ideas + good writing = great book
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2014
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H & P has one of the highest insights-per-page densities of any book I've read. Graham writes essays not to describe or sell ideas but to discover them. Writing is his vehicle for coming up with new ways of looking at things, and we get to go along for the ride.

Graham has a knack for distilling the essence of things: high schools as holding pens, hacking as a craft, money as a way to move wealth, programming languages as chairs, etc. Two questions seem to drive Graham's writing process: What is the broadest thing that can be said about X without being false? And how can I say it in the simplest manner possible? It's this joint process of abstraction (of content) and simplification (of form) that results in really good essays.

If you are curious about the world and like surprising ideas, then you should probably read this book.

P.S. if you enjoy the essays, definitely check out the endnotes. To simplify his essays, Graham buries a lot of insights at the end.
5 people found this helpful
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Bas Vodde
4.0 out of 5 stars A fun read
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2009
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Paul Graham's "Hackers and Painters" is a collection of separate articles from Paul. The articles are well written and funny, though I frequently did not agree with the content. Since one of the earlier articles was on censorship, I'd say... that was probably the intention :)

The first article is triggered by Pauls growing up and asks why nerds are unpopular when you are younger. He explores memories of his childhood and tries to clarify them. He continues with a article after which the book is named. He explains that he has *some* education in painting and explores the similarity between hacking and painting.

The next couple chapters are an attack to taboos in general. What can we say? Why can we say that? And he claims that hackers are more comfortable breaking taboos, breaking the rules.

In the article "The road ahead" he is making predictions related to web-based server software, of which some are insightful (or were insightful). He claims that server-based software will be the future and the recent years have certainly shown that to be true.

The next couple of articles relate to capitalism and I did disagree with a lot of the statements he made in here. Though, often his points are carefully crafts.. here I found them simplistic. It annoyed me and even thought about stop reading it. The well-written-ness made me continue though.

The middle of the book contains an article about spam. This one doesn't fit well in the book and could have better left out, in my opinion.

The last articles in the book relate to programming languages and were fun to read. Paul is a serious Lisp fan and tries to argue about programming languages in such a way that it always supports his chose of lisp. He does make a couple of good points.

All in all, I've enjoyed reading "Hackers & Painters". Its an easy read with interesting strong opinions from Paul. I'd rate it between 3 and 4 stars, mainly because the amount of learning is not high. Though, I remember some articles got me laughing out loud, so decided to go for a 4. Worth reading if you like strong opinions relate to hacker cultures.
12 people found this helpful
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Randall Degges
5.0 out of 5 stars Various Essays from a Hacker's Point of View
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2011
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Disclaimer: I'm a big fan of Paul Graham's writing and works. I've been reading his blog for ages, and am a somewhat obsessive reader of his website Hacker News.

I recently decided to purchase and read Graham's book, "Hackers & Painters", to casually read through some of his favorite essays. This book is comprised of 15 of Graham's essays pulled from his blog, which he updates several times a year. The topics of his essays are diverse, but all represent a hacker's point of view.

What makes this book worth reading is that you get inside of Paul Graham's mind. He has an amazingly clear writing style (one that I am extremely fond of), and is able to walk you through his thoughts and arguments in a clear manner.

If you're at all interested in entrepreneurship, technology, or programming, I would give this book a read. It can be read casually in a day or so, and will make you think deeply about the topics discussed for weeks afterwards.
6 people found this helpful
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Dimosthenis Kaponis
3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting read, but somewhat repetitive and incoherent at times.
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2016
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Interesting read, but a bit of a let down. Given its reputation and the high expectations that follow, I expected much more. The text is somewhat insightful at times, in that it highlights the uniqueness of an open mind when it comes to the use and adoption of technology in the early 21st century. But as the book progresses it disappoints as it demonstrates the same highly opinionated (if not biased) opinions it criticises. It is also somewhat repetitive at times and goes off on a tangent more than often.
2 people found this helpful
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Paulo Renato Orione
4.0 out of 5 stars Ideal para programadores e artistas buscando novos pontos de vista
Reviewed in Brazil on September 8, 2020
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Qual a semelhança entre programadores e pintores? Ambos são criadores. Eles criam coisas a partir de uma visão. Uma mistura de filosofia, tecnologia, visão de mundo e reflexões aleatórias que formam uma obra que tem alma. Alguns capítulos são diretamente para programadores, e nesses eu não tive muito interesse. Mas o outros, amigo... que porrada. Paul Graham sintetiza com clareza assuntos complexos e polêmicos. Conformismo e seus perigos, criação de riqueza, criação de produtos... tudo de um ponto de vista ao mesmo tempo filosófico e prático. Várias vezes terminei de ler um trecho e me vi assim: 🤯 Não fosse pelos capítulos muito técnicos que são 30% do livro, seria possivelmente um dos melhores do ano.

Se você é programador, LEIA, provavelmente vai ser seu livro favorito.
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Paulo Renato Orione
4.0 out of 5 stars Ideal para programadores e artistas buscando novos pontos de vista
Reviewed in Brazil on September 8, 2020
Qual a semelhança entre programadores e pintores? Ambos são criadores. Eles criam coisas a partir de uma visão. Uma mistura de filosofia, tecnologia, visão de mundo e reflexões aleatórias que formam uma obra que tem alma. Alguns capítulos são diretamente para programadores, e nesses eu não tive muito interesse. Mas o outros, amigo... que porrada. Paul Graham sintetiza com clareza assuntos complexos e polêmicos. Conformismo e seus perigos, criação de riqueza, criação de produtos... tudo de um ponto de vista ao mesmo tempo filosófico e prático. Várias vezes terminei de ler um trecho e me vi assim: 🤯 Não fosse pelos capítulos muito técnicos que são 30% do livro, seria possivelmente um dos melhores do ano.

Se você é programador, LEIA, provavelmente vai ser seu livro favorito.
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2 people found this helpful
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V.
1.0 out of 5 stars Only read the first chapter, the rest is outdated
Reviewed in France on September 19, 2021
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I bought it after reading the first chapter that was amazing. But very disappointed about everything that followed, not relevant at all today.
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Pietro Baruzzi
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfetto
Reviewed in Italy on August 14, 2020
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il libro risponde alla descrizione. Una lettura interessante per chi vuole approfondire il tema della relazione tra hacker e artisti
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Keeb
5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely buy if you're a fan of Paul Graham's essays.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 8, 2019
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This book has some essays not found on Paul Graham's website.

If you're a fan of his writing then this is definitely worth picking up.

It's always great to read about PG's thoughts surrounding start-ups and what he learned when he started Viaweb.
One person found this helpful
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Brendan
5.0 out of 5 stars thought provoking
Reviewed in Canada on March 12, 2015
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Provides an interesting point of view on the world of computer programming and the requirements for success in general. The writer encourages you to rethink convention on many fronts and uses his own success as evidence to why it must be done.
One person found this helpful
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