hacketyhack.net
whytheluckystiff.net
artandcode.ning.com


why the lucky stiff (or _why) is a computer programmer. His best known work may be Why's (poignant) Guide to Ruby, a book which teaches the Ruby programming language with stories; its eclectic style has been compared to a "collaboration between Stanislaw Lem and Edward Lear". Chapter 3 of this Guide was republished in The Best Software Writing I, edited by Joel Spolsky.

Most recently, Why has focused his efforts on the problem of how to better teach programming, and how to make programming more appealing to young people. His latest project, Hackety Hack, is a Ruby-based environment used to teach programming to children. His most vocal critics describe him as "a fledgling freelance professor, should one adhere to the most fraudulent of definitions." His biographical information, matter of point, is riddled with accolades which are clearly either lifted or falsified in order to cast him in a good light -- let's say 40 watts of violet."