Dude, Did I Steal Your Job? Debugging Indian Computer Programmers

Rating:
Summary: An interesting and a thought provoking book
Review: An interesting and a thought provoking book! Siva has conveyed a lot of commom traits shared among the immigrants of the indian subcontinent. And has tackled the issue of outsourcing,its pros and cons in a fair and a balanced way. Although i doubt if it will make an impression on the message boards. Its not easy talking about the benefits of outsourcing to someone who has lost his/her job becasue of it. Just as it was not easy explaining the benefits of computerization in india when people were replaced by computers imported from US!

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Summary: A "face" on the issues of offshoring/H1-B in IT...
Review: As a software developer, I'm well aware of the offshoring/H1-B controversy. When I was offered a chance to review the self-published book Dude, Did I Steal Your Job? Debugging Indian Computer Programmers by N. Sivakumar, I welcomed the opportunity. An interesting read from the "other side"...

The author is an Indian software engineer living in the US, and he presents his own observations and views on America's issues in the IT industry. Aside from the stories about cultural adjustment, there's real solid material here. He does an excellent job in differentiating between offshoring and the H1-B visa program. And while there definitely are abuses in the H1-B program, an open-minded reader will see that there are some tangible benefits to the economy in general and the industry specifically. I didn't realize that many of the major technology companies were started by immigrants who came to America to pursue a dream. Not that I thought that Americans had to have started them... I just hadn't given it much thought. Towards the end of the book, he talks about offshoring and understands that as it is currently practiced, its usually devastating to workers. He's also not in favor of it in its current form. He recommends some changes to the process that would help ease the transition of affected workers, and the concepts are worth consideration.

Getting back to the stories... He shares a number of cultural observations and stories of what its like to be an Indian programmer in America. Many will cause you to laugh, and far too many will cause you to wonder how we could be so rude. He doesn't pull punches, so it's not as if he's painting Indians as poor abused minorities. He points out the faults and oddities on both sides. There are a lot of generalizations, as there would have to be when you're discussing a cultural group as a whole. But I think that the typical American IT worker could learn a lot (and gain some empathy) by reading the book.

If you're looking for a smoothly written, highly edited piece of literature, you may be disappointed. He went the self-publishing route to tell his story, and as a result you'll see some rough edges. But the writing is real, the views are balanced, and it's a worthy read for anyone who is trying to come to grips with the changes in the IT landscape. You may not agree with parts of the book, but you'll be forced to put a face on the issues as opposed to dealing with "them".

Rating:
Summary: No reason to get angry with this book
Review: If you happen to read this book, and get furious with the author, you have missed the point Sivakumar was trying to make in this book. I find his accout very interesting, humble, and thought-provoking. A must read.

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Summary: Book Review by Marcus Wagstaff
Review: In the course of our lives, we are sometimes unwittingly caught up in subtle events which at the time seem to be exciting, upsetting, and/or bothersome, which when viewed throught the lens of hindsight are actually quite historic.

What Sivakumar has captured here is a first-person account of his experiences as an H1B worker, immigrant to America, and observer of the impact this remarkable, historic market phenomenon has had upon the American IT industry and its workers.

I find Sivakumar's work to be simultaneously thought-provoking and hilarious! As an American worker with loose connections to the workings of the IT side of my business, I was somewhat unaware of the dymanics at work with the H1B visa phenomenon of the past few years. Siva lays out a brief review of this progression, and then argues convincingly of the substantial benefit America has gained from H1B. His points are fair and accurate.

On the hilarious side, I especially enjoyed his telling about his American experiences (his first encounters in his layover in LAX), as well as his observations of the idiosyncracies of his american colleagues (how a co-worker enjoyed kissing his dog on the lips) and how these habits/customs can be viewed with as much distaste as "the curry smell" can be viewed by Americans.

The book zips right along with a good balance of fact, argument, and humor. I recommend this book to you; you'll enjoy this one.

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Summary: The true case for immigration
Review: My friend Siva with his programmer style humor, layed the true and often untold case for immigrants and immigration. He will not convince the message boards' zealots -they will never be convinced. I also agree with him that a balanced approach to outsourcing should be adopted, rather than the current greedy gold rush type that we are witnessing. The cultural anecdots are very funny and are testimony to the multi-dimensional beings we humans are. Finally, there are subjective issues I slightly differ in opinion with him. Nevertheless, the book is a fantastic and captivating read.

Rating:
Summary: Unexpected. Five Stars!
Review: The best part of this book is the comparison of American Programmers to others around the world. I'm glad the author agreed that American programmers are more innovative than others. Though it comforts me, it's definitely true.

Whoever read Ed Yourdan's 'Decline and Fall of American Programmers', should read this book. At least the chapter that analyzes the programmers from different cultures.

The book has some editorial lapses. But the content is awesome.
I liked this book. Five Stars.


Rating:
Summary: Commendable effort
Review: This book accurately reflects the lifestyles & travails of "Desis" in the USA. With the aid of his brutally frank views about outsourcing of jobs & H1b visa, the author attempts to draw a fair balance.

To me, the best parts of the book are the humourous tid-bits on stereotypes of Asian Indians in America.


Rating:
Summary: Stealing the economy
Review: This book should be filed in the dumpster. Just like what is happening to the U.S. We are giving away all of what this country was founded on to other low income slave labor countries all because CEO's want to cut costs. Just like blude collar manufacturing was given away so will all white collar jobs. That just leaves low paying service jobs left in this country.

The U.S. will lose its Superpower and soon China and India will be the next superpowers and hold the U.S. hostage with huge export charges which will jack up prices on all goods they currently produce. And since the U.S. no longer manufactures anything, we will be a country without industry. Reminds you of Communism, doesnt it ??

WAKE UP PEOPLE, THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR THE COUNTRY.

Rating:
Summary: Debugging Indian Computer Programmers
Review: This is a balanced book ( Lou you better learn how to analyze facts in a balanced manner from this unknown author). This book provides complete analysis / figures of how much America and Americans benefit(economic) from H1B programmers. This book has answers to many of the questions/comments posted by American programmers in 'discussion forums' online. must read for the American bros. Some chapters get you laugh and laugh loudly but at the same time they provide the actual essence

Rating:
Summary: Yes, 'you stole it'
Review: Three stars since I didn't read much of it, and my quasi-Buddhist generous mind. Have worked and partied with my share of Indians over many years: some smart, some dumb, some hard working, most mellow, some quite tempermental. As with thousands in the US, we haven't found it funny to personally witness companies replace their IT staff with Indian H-1B or L-1 consultants and flooding the job market. What's 'better' for companies is that most will work for less. There are good Indian programmers but very few outstanding ones. As long-time columnist John Dvorak points out, he's seen no popular apps from Indians; I agree as I work with much world-wide open source software and see very few contributions.