What single piece of software do you most admire, and why?

Posted by Burton on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Burton
Published on 2008-10-22T08:11:16Z Indexed on 2010/05/09 6:48 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 315

Filed under:

subjective

|

Inspiration

|

software-rec

|

top-list

As a developer, I too often find fault with the software that I use day to day. Unintuitive interfaces, etc. But there are those rare exceptions. Regardless of whether the software in question is a programmers' tool, tell me about software you have used:

What has inspired admiration?
What software made you re-remember simplicity? (or whatever gauge of awesomeness works for you).

Only one piece of software per post, please.

© Super User or respective owner

Related posts about subjective

Scoring/analysis of Subjective testing for skills assessment

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
I am lucky in the sense that I have been given the opportunity to be a 'Technical Troubleshooter' for our offshore development team. While I am confident and capable of dealing with most issues, I have come across something that I am not. Based on initial discussions with various team members both… >>> More
Best Practise/Subjective: Implement a finite state automaton in OOP

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi guys, I am thinking about implementing a programm with finite state automaton in an OOP language like Java or C++. What would you think is the best way to implement this with a manageable amount of available states, regarding to good software design? Is it good to implement for each state an… >>> More
Subjective question...would you use the Action delegate to avoid duplication of code?

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hello, I just asked a question that helps about using generics (or polymorphism) to avoid duplication of code. I am really trying to follow the DRY principle. So I just ran into the following code... Sub OutputDataToExcel() OutputLine("Output DataBlocks", 1) OutputDataBlocks() … >>> More
"Best" language /architecture for browser-based app with ODBC and sockets? (subjective)

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Sorry to ask a subjective question, but I would welcome some advice. I am an experienced programmer of embedded s/w, but haven't done much network programming, although I have done a fair bit of hobbyist PHP. Anyway, I have to develop what is probably a fairly general type of app, as shown in this… >>> More
The best terminal emulator for a heavy terminal user?

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I spend a lot of time at the command-line during the workday and at home too since I run Ubuntu exclusively. I've been using the default gnome terminal but I've reached a point where I'd really like to get my terminal tricked out so that my common tasks are as easy as possible. Specifically, I find… >>> More

Related posts about Inspiration

How To Get Website Design Inspiration?

as seen on Article City - Search for 'Article City'
How to get Website Design Inspiration? When it comes to finding inspiration for your website designs it can be a tricky and sometimes time consuming process. I have designed numerous sites in the pa... [Author: Adie Price - Web Design and Development - May 11, 2010] >>> More
15 Stylish Navigation Menus For Inspiration

as seen on Just Skins - Search for 'Just Skins'
A site’s navigation menu is one of the most prominent things that users see when they first visit. There are many ways to design a navigation menu and since almost all websites have some form of navigation designers have to push their creative limits to build one that’s remarkable and outstanding… >>> More
Wobbly Menu - An Inspiration from iPhone

as seen on Code Project - Search for 'Code Project'
iPhone like menu system and wobbly re-arrangement technique with a useful sample application >>> More
Programming concepts taken from the arts and humanities

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
After reading Paul Graham's essay Hackers and Painters and Joel Spolsky's Advice for Computer Science College Students, I think I've finally gotten it through my thick skull that I should not be loath to work hard in academic courses that aren't "programming" or… >>> More
Inspiring problems to show off the importance of regular expressions?

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
I am planning to give a presentation/demonstration on regular expressions at work to encourage young developers to add this powerful and important tool in their toolbox. Just teaching syntax doesn't cut it. I often see people say nice. After the presentation, they get on with their programming lives… >>> More