Download PDF The Mythical ManMonth Essays on Software Engineering Anniversary Edition 2nd Edition Frederick P Brooks Jr 8580001065793 Books

Product details Paperback 336 pages Publisher Addison-Wesley Professional; Anniversary edition (August 12, 1995) Language English ISBN-10 9780201835953 ISBN-13 978-0201835953 ASIN 0201835959

The Mythical ManMonth Essays on Software Engineering Anniversary Edition 2nd Edition Frederick P Brooks Jr 8580001065793 Books Reviews

• I read this book twenty years or so ago and I have given away several copies of it to others who manage groups of professionals engaged in scientific research and analyses. Although Dr. Brooks writes specifically about his experiences with software development, I feel that a reader could easily replace references to programming or software with the more generic "project" to imagine how Brooks' experiences might apply to their own work. The Mythical Man-Month is a very thoughtful treatment on the structuring of work groups and of the importance of communication within and among teams working on projects.
• I love this book. I think it came out before Agile & Scrum took off. However there are so many wonderful concepts about organizing large technically complex projects. So much of what he talks about is just good project planning--forget software development. I am in the chapter now where they are discussing how it is better to have a project which adheres to the original well planned form for a project--rather than sloppily stringing a bunch of updated ideas together with the original base. It is a philosophy which can be related to everyday life--not just software development.
• I am a retired computer programmer, 86 years old, a career therein dating from a chance occurrence in 1956, and having been laid off from U.S.Defense Dept. work finally in 1987, when the Cold War ended. I was actively involved in working with the big computer at a Navy base, and involved in choosing a replacement for IBM 7090, so I heard a lot of feedback from aerospace contractors who got the System 360 about which the author is writing. After our assessment of available machines, we chose not to go on with IBM, but got another vendor. I have heard about this book intermittently through the years, always intending to acquire it. When I lately found out about the 1995 edition, I acquired it and read it with great interest. A very good exposition of the nuts and bolts that exist behind large projects. From my experience, as employed by the U.S. government and then by a contractor to it, I concur with all his conclusions, and welcome the 1995 additional material in which he clarifies some matters. Good reading and good advice. Must have!
• A fantastic read; the examples are a little dated but the message is exemplary and relevant. Frankly, this might be the most excellent piece of software engineering literature in existence.
  
  It is dense, every sentence is necessary and relevant. The allusions, metaphors, and examples all help to paint and SHOW not TELL the author's ideas.
  
  A cross between literary masterpiece and dialogue about software engineering, this novel will stand the test of time.
• === Excellent insights into software ===
  IMHO, Brooks has distilled fundamental truths; you might find his ideas slightly outdated; but all will agree Brooks offers at least excellent insights. To list but a few build times determine programmer work cycle; agreement on high-level goals is essential; dev tools make a huge difference; visualizing code is a hard problem; programmers are optimists.
  
  === Superbly edited ===
  If you've a background in editing (developmental down to line), you will be impressed by this text. "Perfection is achieved, "said Saint-Exupery, "when there's nothing left to take away"; and that is absolutely the case here. Every point is pertinent to the thesis, every sentence is necessary, every phrase concise. (I cannot say the same of Brooks's follow-on book, "Design of Design".)
  
  === Classy ===
  Brooks was the project manager for the OS/300, a $5B endeavor that IBM bet its future on, an engineering effort of the highest magnitude, and a spectacular success. But whenever he mentions an aspect or feature where he feels OS/300 excelled, he always gives complete credit to whomever designed that aspect or implemented that feature; and whenever he mentions an area where he feels OS/300 fell short, he takes complete personal responsibility for the shortcoming.
• A great book that tells you everything your project manager and lead architect are doing wrong, leading to the depressing realization that there is nothing you can do. Timeless wisdom.
• Fred Brooks was a software engineer at IBM for some decades and later chair of the UNC CS department. His experience and study makes this recounting invaluable. I felt like I highlighted a sentence on every other page. You must get the second edition and if you read nothing else in it (though it is a short book), you must read the 18th and 19th chapters. The 18th chapter is a summary of all prior chapters while the 19th chapter reflects on the book 20 years later in 1995 -- what changed and what hadn't.