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The Mythical Man-Month

Essays on Software Engineering, 20th Anniversary Edition

By Frederick P. Brooks

(99)

| Paperback | 9780201835953

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Book Description

Few books on software project management have been as influential and timeless as The Mythical Man-Month. With a blend of software engineering facts and thought-provoking opinions, Fred Brooks offers insight for anyone managing complex projects. These essays draw from his experience as project managContinue

5 Reviews

2 people find this helpful

Certainly one of the classics of software project management, this book first appeared a quarter of a century ago, when Fred Brooks tried to run one of the first very large scale software engineering projects (the OS/360 operating system at IBM) and became the first person to describe how radically ... (continue)

Certainly one of the classics of software project management, this book first appeared a quarter of a century ago, when Fred Brooks tried to run one of the first very large scale software engineering projects (the OS/360 operating system at IBM) and became the first person to describe how radically different software is from other types of engineering. This book is most famous for discovering the principle that adding more programmers to an already-late project makes it later, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. Understanding this book is a prerequisite for thinking correctly about managing software teams.

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J.S. (testing) said on Oct 20, 2005 | Add your feedback

Un clásico algo aburrido :S

Me siento culpable por no haber disfrutado muchísimo con este libro, supuestamente uno de los grandes clásicos de mi profesión, que ha recibido montones de buenas críticas y es un must read. Pero la verdad es que me ha resultado pesado y aburrido a veces, totalmente irrelevante en otras e inc ... (continue)

Me siento culpable por no haber disfrutado muchísimo con este libro, supuestamente uno de los grandes clásicos de mi profesión, que ha recibido montones de buenas críticas y es un must read. Pero la verdad es que me ha resultado pesado y aburrido a veces, totalmente irrelevante en otras e incomprensible en bastantes... Obviamente lo he leído teniendo en mente la cantidad de años que han pasado y esta edición en concreto tiene 4 nuevos capítulos escritos en el 20 aniversario que están muy muy bien, pero aún así...

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Yukino said on Jan 27, 2012 | Add your feedback

The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition (2nd Edition) by Frederick P. Brooks (1995)

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Reinhard said on Oct 4, 2010 | Add your feedback

One of the best in software planning

... when developing software did not means a collage of what can be found in Internet ...
... when developing software means think what you are doing ...
... when developing software was a "state of the art" process ...
... NOT NOW.
(sorry for my horrible English)

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Albertuan said on Jun 8, 2008 | Add your feedback

*** This comment contains spoilers! ***

This book is about software engineering. Some points to note:
(1) The surgical team: I buy this idea also. Being a few minds working on a project is the right way to get out of the hell of endless discussion over coding and design. The role of the lead programmer and an assistance is good. Bu ... (continue)

This book is about software engineering. Some points to note:
(1) The surgical team: I buy this idea also. Being a few minds working on a project is the right way to get out of the hell of endless discussion over coding and design. The role of the lead programmer and an assistance is good. But, the role is to lead, but not to dominate in every discussion making.
(2) The complexity of a software is the essence. I agree with this point. The software is one of the way to realize abstract idea into concrete structure(s). It is inevitably the reflection of one's mind. Unless the software is doing dull things, the complexity is the core, not the side-effects or ill-features. I think breaking down such a complexity is futile, instead we need to model as a complexity. To model the complexity is a great challenge, but not beyond today's scope. I hope that one unify way to model software will be out soon.
(3) The great minds are needed. As a educator, I don't buy this idea. But, from an industrial perspective, the great minds really work out effectively, with orders of improvement.
(5) Top-down design. I experienced myself. Without a concrete design and blindly developing "something" from bottom-up is definitely not the way out. It turns out that a project developing using a bottom-up approach would end up with many modules being difficult to communicate.
I end this writing here. But, it is not all the things about this book. It is worth reading, as a matter of fact. It is a valuable book for software managers, and team leaders, but not university students. It is because you can only know how to appreciate this book with a handful of experience.

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Tsz-yeung Wong said on Jan 15, 2008 | Add your feedback