Allen I. Holub (born 1955) is a computer author who was published in ''

Dr. Dobb's Journal ''Dr. Dobb's Journal'' (often shortened to ''Dr. Dobb's'' or DDJ) was a monthly magazine published in the United States by UBM Technology Group, part of UBM. It covered topics aimed at computer programmers. When launched in 1976, DDJ was the fi ...

'' in the 1980s and then again in the 2010s. He also wrote for ''

SD Times ''Software Development Times'', better known as ''SD Times'', is a magazine published by D2 Emerge, in both a print version and an on-line electronic edition. History and profile The first issue appeared in February 2000. The headquarters is in ...

''. His 1990 book ''Compiler Design in C'' was praised as an accessible reference. He is also a teacher, consultant, and speaker.

Career

Allen Holub received double Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, in Computer Science and Medieval European History. In 1982, he became an instructor for the University of California Berkeley Extension, where he has continued teaching periodically to the present day. He started his consulting company "Holub Associates" in 1983, which has also continued to the present day. Holub was the Chan-Norris Distinguished Visiting Professor of Computer Science at

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

for the 2021-2022 academic year, teaching a computer science elective course among other duties.

Writing

Holub is a prolific author and has written many books and articles. His "C Chest" column appeared in ''

'' from 1984 to 1988. His "Java Toolbox" column appeared in JavaWorld from 1998 to 2004. His bi-monthly "JavaWatch" column was in SD Times from May 2004 to September 2006. Holub also blogged on Agile for ''Dr. Dobb's Journal'' from 2011 until its shutdown in 2014. His 1990 book ''Compiler Design in C'' is a 984-page reference book, recommended by several library services at the time, as well as trade publications and the comp.compiler Usenet group FAQ. It is now out of print, but available as a download on his website. One reviewer stated he preferred it to the "dragon book", '' Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools'', as its code examples made the material more approachable. Holub's book ''Taming Java Threads'' is an edited re-print of a 9-part series from his Java Toolbox column. It has some good information, although is not as broad in coverage as other books. Holub's book ''Holub on Patterns: Learning Design Patterns by Looking at Code'' contains a few of his more popular Java Toolbox articles, but is mostly new content. It is a valuable resource for Java software developers.

Speaking and advocacy

Holub signed the Agile Manifesto in March 2014. As of 2023, Holub positions himself as well-versed in Lean/Agile methodology. He has made several controversial statements, such as that software development teams do not need a bug tracking system, do not need estimates, indeed should avoid most of the practices of Scrum, and not deploying on Friday is a huge red flag.

Personal life

In addition to his work in the software industry, Holub is also a composer, musician, artist, and pilot. As of 2023 he resides in Berkeley, CA.

References

{{Authority control Living people 1955 births American computer scientists University of California, Berkeley alumni