http://www.wordyard.com/2006/10/02/mythical-man-month/ Technology, politics, culture Sat, 13 Mar 2010 03:26:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.wordyard.com/2006/10/02/mythical-man-month/comment-page-1/#comment-4932 Craig Beyers Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:36:30 +0000 http://www.wordyard.com/?p=1132#comment-4932 The key point of Brooks' book is that it isn't about the software; it's about the management (and conduct) of software development. The problems Brooks' identifies are generally the problems of any significant project. The book isn't aimed at programmers, it's aimed at managers. Someone in the comment string noted that software development isn't about the software, it's about the business problems that software systems or applications will solve. So it might be useful to consider how TMMM addresses how people manage the business problem-solving exercise rather than "software development" and factor that into future project management. My experience tells me that all projects need key things: understanding of the problem (s), desired solutions (aka requirements), QA, CM, plans, validation, etc. Software development isn't unique compared to other projects, but it's the solution space we work in. If project teams spent as much time on peer reviews of requirements (in whatever form), interfaces, and integration as they do in testing, then testing and the resultant debugging would become asymptotic to zero in the level of effort and time needed. It ain't about the software! The key point of Brooks’ book is that it isn’t about the software; it’s about the management (and conduct) of software development. The problems Brooks’ identifies are generally the problems of any significant project. The book isn’t aimed at programmers, it’s aimed at managers. Someone in the comment string noted that software development isn’t about the software, it’s about the business problems that software systems or applications will solve. So it might be useful to consider how TMMM addresses how people manage the business problem-solving exercise rather than “software development” and factor that into future project management. My experience tells me that all projects need key things: understanding of the problem (s), desired solutions (aka requirements), QA, CM, plans, validation, etc. Software development isn’t unique compared to other projects, but it’s the solution space we work in. If project teams spent as much time on peer reviews of requirements (in whatever form), interfaces, and integration as they do in testing, then testing and the resultant debugging would become asymptotic to zero in the level of effort and time needed. It ain’t about the software!

]]> http://www.wordyard.com/2006/10/02/mythical-man-month/comment-page-1/#comment-4678 The Mythical Man-Month Essay | nOObWebDesign Sun, 19 Oct 2008 10:17:53 +0000 http://www.wordyard.com/?p=1132#comment-4678 [...] this essay, Scott Rosenberg discusses The Mythical Man-Month and what it can teach us as programmers.  The points that I [...] [...] this essay, Scott Rosenberg discusses The Mythical Man-Month and what it can teach us as programmers.  The points that I [...]

]]> http://www.wordyard.com/2006/10/02/mythical-man-month/comment-page-1/#comment-4549 The Mythical Man-Month, timeless but the Wikipedia page will do | Enter Venture Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:25:11 +0000 http://www.wordyard.com/?p=1132#comment-4549 [...] Scott Rosenberg’s Review [...] [...] Scott Rosenberg’s Review [...]

]]> http://www.wordyard.com/2006/10/02/mythical-man-month/comment-page-1/#comment-3368 Brad Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:52:19 +0000 http://www.wordyard.com/?p=1132#comment-3368 The Mythical Man Month, and Brook's Law are really just the catch phrases of this seminal writing. The crux of the book is about how to achieve conceptional integrity through a clear and decisive separation of interface and implementation, and incremental development pratices (grown, not built). I'm amazed after reading "The Pragmatic Programmer", how much can be traced back to TMMM. Brook’s doesn’t mention “Write it Once”, or DRY, but the seeds are definitely there. The Mythical Man Month, and Brook’s Law are really just the catch phrases of this seminal writing. The crux of the book is about how to achieve conceptional integrity through a clear and decisive separation of interface and implementation, and incremental development pratices (grown, not built). I’m amazed after reading “The Pragmatic Programmer”, how much can be traced back to TMMM. Brook’s doesn’t mention “Write it Once”, or DRY, but the seeds are definitely there.

]]> http://www.wordyard.com/2006/10/02/mythical-man-month/comment-page-1/#comment-2969 Jarretthousenorth.com » Blog Archive » Around the ’sphere: Thank U Sat, 03 May 2008 19:27:18 +0000 http://www.wordyard.com/?p=1132#comment-2969 [...] to Scott Rosenberg for a fascinating series on key written works that have influenced programming culture. I had never heard of Edsger Dijkstra’s [...] [...] to Scott Rosenberg for a fascinating series on key written works that have influenced programming culture. I had never heard of Edsger Dijkstra’s [...]

]]> http://www.wordyard.com/2006/10/02/mythical-man-month/comment-page-1/#comment-2891 Jarrett House North » Blog Archive » Around the ’sphere: Thank U Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:25:58 +0000 http://www.wordyard.com/?p=1132#comment-2891 [...] to Scott Rosenberg for a fascinating series on key written works that have influenced programming culture. I had never heard of Edsger Dijkstra’s [...] [...] to Scott Rosenberg for a fascinating series on key written works that have influenced programming culture. I had never heard of Edsger Dijkstra’s [...]

]]> http://www.wordyard.com/2006/10/02/mythical-man-month/comment-page-1/#comment-2816 Backing up to the cloud - Mozy & Mesh - Dave Naffziger’s Blog Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:57:41 +0000 http://www.wordyard.com/?p=1132#comment-2816 [...] Microsoft’s recent announcement of Live Mesh. While GDrive remains as mythical as the ‘man-month’, MSFT is launching a beta of Live Mesh, a pretty ambitious Remote Desktop in the cloud (Good [...] [...] Microsoft’s recent announcement of Live Mesh. While GDrive remains as mythical as the ‘man-month’, MSFT is launching a beta of Live Mesh, a pretty ambitious Remote Desktop in the cloud (Good [...]

]]> http://www.wordyard.com/2006/10/02/mythical-man-month/comment-page-1/#comment-1611 » The Mythical Man-Month » BinaryDay - A little better day Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:04:27 +0000 http://www.wordyard.com/?p=1132#comment-1611 [...] 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month 2. http://www.wordyard.com/2006/10/02/mythical-man-month/ 3. [...] [...] 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month 2. http://www.wordyard.com/2006/10/02/mythical-man-month/ 3. [...]

]]> http://www.wordyard.com/2006/10/02/mythical-man-month/comment-page-1/#comment-1242 benjamin Thu, 13 Dec 2007 02:22:35 +0000 http://www.wordyard.com/?p=1132#comment-1242 l am a chinese, l'm hitting on the book, l have viewed the comments all readers left, l just found some part really counts but some off the point, we can't be so fussy, in deed, the sofrware market gets more and more commercial, anyhow, it's the trend of times, we shall be much objective when dealingwith the contention. havea good time, l am leaving the mesage in Beijin of China l am a chinese, l’m hitting on the book, l have viewed the comments all readers left, l just found some part really counts but some off the point, we can’t be so fussy, in deed, the sofrware market gets more and more commercial, anyhow, it’s the trend of times, we shall be much objective when dealingwith the contention. havea good time, l am leaving the mesage in Beijin of China

]]> http://www.wordyard.com/2006/10/02/mythical-man-month/comment-page-1/#comment-217 How to be a Programmer with 10 Simple Books (GGG5) « //engtech - internet duct tape Tue, 22 May 2007 13:52:11 +0000 http://www.wordyard.com/?p=1132#comment-217 [...] Scott Rosenberg’s analysis of the Mythical Man-month. [...] [...] Scott Rosenberg’s analysis of the Mythical Man-month. [...]

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