including User Interface Design for Programmers and Smart and Gets Things Done. He is also the creator of "The Joel Test". Spolsky coined the term fix it twice for a process improvement method. It implies a quick, immediate solution for fixing an incident and a second, slower fix for preventing the same problem from occurring again by targeting the root cause. His use of the term Shlemiel the painter's algorithm, referring to an algorithm that is not scalable due to performing too many redundant actions, was described by salon.com'''s Scott Rosenberg as an example of good writing "about their insular world in a way that wins the respect of their colleagues and the attention of outsiders." Spolsky made an appearance at the WeAreDevelopers Conference 2017, stating how developers are writing the script for the future. In his speech, Spolsky talks about how software is eating the world, how it is becoming more evident in everyday life as people interact with more software on a day-to-day basis, and how developers are helping to shape how the world will work as technology keeps evolving. He uses the metaphor "we are just little vegetables floating in software soup", referring to our constant use of software for the most mundane activities, including work, social networking, and even taking a cab. In December 2019, Spolsky revealed he was the chairman of an open-source simulation startup called HASH. Personal life In 2015, Spolsky announced his marriage to his husband, Jared, on social media and his blog. He lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. In 2022, Joel and Jared adopted a dog named Cooper. Schlemiel the Painter's algorithm In software development, a Shlemiel the painter's algorithm (sometimes, Shlemiel the painter algorithm'', not to be confused with "Painter's algorithm") is a method that is inefficient because the programmer has overlooked some fundamental issues at the very lowest levels of software design. The term was coined in 2001 by Spolsky, who used a Yiddish joke to illustrate a certain poor programming practice: Schlemiel (also rendered Shlemiel) is to paint the dotted lines down the middle of a road. Each day, Schlemiel paints less than he painted the day before, and complains that it is because each day he gets farther away from the paint can, and it takes him longer to go back and put paint on his brush. The inefficiency to which Spolsky was drawing an