| Revision as of 09:10, 14 March 2004 editJust Another Dan (talk | contribs)676 edits reword, tidy, check facts, etc...← Previous edit | Revision as of 00:02, 16 May 2004 edit undoJerzy (talk | contribs)57,486 edits + Another of his challenges to the idea of expecting results to match labor expended was the assertion that writing an Algol (programming) compiler requires six months, regardless of the numbeNext edit → | ||
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
| 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." | 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." | ||
| Another of his challenges to the idea of expecting results to match labor expended was the assertion that writing an ] ] requires six months, regardless of the number of workers involved. | |||
| Brooks also describes the ] and advocates ]. | Brooks also describes the ] and advocates ]. | ||
Revision as of 00:02, 16 May 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."
Another of his challenges to the idea of expecting results to match labor expended was the assertion that writing an Algol compiler requires six months, regardless of the number of workers involved.
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.