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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
a must read for anyone who manage software development
Programming languages and development tools may have changed since the first edition of this book, but the problems that arise during a software project development are still the same: lack of communication, division of labor, schedules, etc. Fred Brooks presents case studies where there were such problems and how to face it. This book is a little bit dated on...
Published on 27 Oct 1997
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6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
A bit outdated...
Bought this book on the recommendation of a friend, bought "Debugging the Development Environment" on the recommendation of my boss and would probably recommend neither for todays fluidic environments. Mythical Man Month contains a somewhat outdated view of software development, more suitably apt for an age when only long time development projects for mainframes existed...
Published on 1 Aug 2007 by S. Knight
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
a must read for anyone who manage software development, 27 Oct 1997
By A Customer
Programming languages and development tools may have changed since the first edition of this book, but the problems that arise during a software project development are still the same: lack of communication, division of labor, schedules, etc. Fred Brooks presents case studies where there were such problems and how to face it. This book is a little bit dated on technical matters, but no book on software management has been so timeless as The Mythical Man-Month.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent book, contains many truths about programming., 31 May 1996
By A Customer
One of the best technical overview books I've read. Brooks
was project lead for IBMs system 360 software and
articulates truths I have known and experienced personally
during the last fifteen years of software development.
I really enjoyed his understanding of the limits and
capabilities of the human mind, especially bandwidth
inside one mind compared to bandwidth between minds.
I found Brooks's combination of knowledge and humilty
appealing, and the whole book was a delight to read.
Paul Harper.
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
A genuine classic - a truly seminal work, 17 Dec 2004
One of the best books ever written about software development and computing in general.Yes, it has dated in places but even so it is still very interesting and often incredibly insightful. The title essay (about how throwing additional people at an already late project simply makes it even later) and the essay about Second System Syndrome at particularly good. It ought to be (but rather sadly is not) a must read for everybody working in IT.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Hard truths about managing software projects, 28 Jun 1997
By A Customer
Most of what you'll read in this book will not come as a surprise, you've
heard it before; well, this is the source. These are observation like:
Programmers who really think they found the last bug mess up your planning
(since they didn't), the last 10% of a software project may take more resources
to complete than all used so far and adding resources to a project will only
make it finish even later.
This very book has left a tremendous impression on the industry ever since
it was first printed (1971?) although most mistakes are still made.
Virtually all examples are outdated like "--the date should be changed manually for a leap year, this saves some 50 bytes in main memory--" but
anyone can substitute relevant examples.
The author's main argument is that no "silver bullet" will be invented that
can decrease the time to perform a complex software project significantly.
In this 1995 edition the author admits (in a new chapter) that some of his
conclusions are incorrect but he stays with that argument: the silver bullet
was not invented and will not soon (if ever) be invented.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
The "absolute must read" in software engineering, 29 Aug 2006
I was working for several years in software development, exposed to systems engineering context before reading this book. I think Brooks was so right so long ago that this is "the absolute must read book" on software engineering for anyone interested.
Brooks writes in each chapter about different concerns that affect Software Engineering. The chapters include experiences the author had during his work in IBM back in the 70s. This makes it even more interesting since you actually learn about history of the craft. Note that the main content was written a while ago, but, much of it still applies in today's environment.
This edition includes the original essays and adds new content that comment on the book, the evolution of the field and what the author thinks is still applicable and what not.
As a whole it is very readable and many times fun to read. IMO this is a must read for anyone working in software engineering.
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12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
A classic work, 9 Jan 2000
By A Customer
This is an all-time classic work on project management. Though it is beginning to show its age, I still think that no engineering student should be allowed to graduate without having read this.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Essential for any working software developer, 11 Dec 1997
By A Customer
Yes, you should buy the 20th-anniversary edition to get "No Silver Bullets", but I am shocked by how little the book has dated overall. Memory may be cheap nowadays, but the book's core message is timeless: "Adding people to an overdue project makes the project later." One of my mentors says "Every working programmer should reread *The Mythical Man-Month* once a year." He's right.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Of interest to many, 11 May 1997
By A Customer
This book is an amazing experience. Whether you come to it with the intention of learning more about how to manage software projects, or simply an interest in the black art of OS programmingit's guaranteed to be an exhiliarating ride. It's not only succinct, refusing to delve into details we wouldn't comprehend, it also contains enough general commentary to make it useful for anyone involved in large projects with creative people (which basically includes just about any form of productivity whatsoever). What makes the book approachable is Brooks' style, which can only be called simple. What keeps you interested in the book are the metaphoric range it has (calling OS programming a tar pit is a considerable reach of the imagination, and yet so obvious) and the rather pragmatic advise Brooks provides at every turn of the page. If you read the book carefully enough, you realize that it makes a series of suggestions about how computing is changing us and the way we create. Brooks may or may not have anticipated this, but his use of the distinction between "essential" and "accidental" difficulties forces one to think long and hard about how these are changing the world of the artist, and the world of art. Just how much writing today is a result of the writer's "liberation" from the static manuscript, either hand/typewritten? What does one lose when this discipline goes away, and what does one gain. Without the accidental difficulties, does tackling the essential ones lead us to inelegant solutions? Or does it simply extend our range, making it possible for more among us to create, and the creative genius to make more than he/she would have otherwise. Throughout the book, what kept coming back to me was the image of a Renaissance painter and his bevy of apprentices. One never knows to what extent the painting's essence was created by the master who drew the outlines and the students who painted the details.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
The all-time classic book on software engineering, 5 Nov 1998
By A Customer
The Mythical Man-Month is a collection of papers on software engineering. It contains the classic pappers "No Silver Bullet", "The Mythical Man-Month", "The Second-System Effect" and others. Every software project manager should read these. I only rated this 4 stars because the book has become somewhat out of date on some issues. It assumes the reader is using primitive software development techniques and for that reason a FEW of the observations don't hold true today. Never the less this book is a classic and if you wan't to be "in the know", you must read it.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
A must read Classic for Software Managers, 17 Aug 1998
By A Customer
M3 teaches us the lessons of good software engineering. That the lessons (if not the particulars) are still timely and accurate after 20+ years, shows how far we have to go. After owning this book for years, I still re-read selected passages before each new project. I step in tar from time to time, but the reasons are often contained in M3. If you're preparing to buy a project scheduling package, STOP. Read M3 and learn the lessons.
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