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'''''The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering''''' is a classic book on ], written by ] to pass on some of the insights he had gained from managing development of ]. Its novel observation was that, unlike some other types of engineering problems, when a project falls behind schedule it doesn't work to add more people. The impact of this observation was so significant that the term "mythical man-month" became a part of the computing lexicon. '''''The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering''''' is a classic book on ] ] written by ].


Reflecting on his time at ] managing the development of ], Brooks recounts the mistakes made and lessons learned. One of the mistakes was the attempt to add more workers to a project falling behind schedule, in the hope of speeding development. His observation, known as ], was simple: "Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later."
Other significant contributions include a description of the ], and advocacy of ], summed up in the advice "plan to throw one away".


Brooks also describes the ] and advocates ].
The book was first published in ], and republished virtually unchanged (just an addition of a chapter) 20 years later.

The book was first published in ]. It was republished as an anniversary edition in ], adding the essay '']'' and commentary by the author.

Revision as of 09:10, 14 March 2004

The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering is a classic book on software project management written by Fred Brooks.

Reflecting on his time at IBM managing the development of OS/360, Brooks recounts the mistakes made and lessons learned. One of the mistakes was the attempt to add more workers to a project falling behind schedule, in the hope of speeding development. His observation, known as Brooks's Law, was simple: "Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later."

Brooks also describes the second-system effect and advocates prototyping.

The book was first published in 1975. It was republished as an anniversary edition in 1995, adding the essay No Silver Bullet and commentary by the author.