The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, 20th Anniversary Edition (book)

This classic on software engineering made its mark as a study of how to manage large complex projects. Most of the book applies to management in general rather than to software engineering in particular.

Here are two examples of the more general insights the author, former IBM manager Frederick P. Brooks, gives readers: an instance of a straightforward insight immediately applicable, and another one we obtain by carefully (!) reading the text.

Brooks looks at different types of projects; large projects that can be split into many simple independent tasks will be completed faster if we add more staff to carry them out. However, engineering projects are seldom so simple. Developing software for a new machine requires the machine, which is itself being developed, as well as documentation, which is being prepared! All these tasks relate to each other and require all participants to communicate with each other. The number of communication lines within a team grows exponentially with respect to the number of team members. At some point, adding more men and women actually delays project completion, shattering the myth of the man-month.

However we must be careful as we read the Mythical Man Month. This book was written in the seventies about the author's experiences in the sixties, so to understand Brooks correctly, we've got to read him carefully. For instance, Brooks praises PERT charts, saying outright that "there is no substitute" for them. I can't believe this is a blanket endorsement for mindlessly turning out slides and charts by using Microsoft Project! Brooks didn't have MS Project or PowerPoint in the sixties: PERT charts were carefully drawn, often by hand, they were expensive, and they were prepared after thinking things through. We find the true insight a little further down page 156: "The preparation of a PERT chart is the most valuable part of its use".

Some of the book is of course more relevant to software engineering. For instance, Brooks's correct 1986 prediction that off-the-shelf, shrink-wrapped software would become the standard way to implement solutions. Just look at Microsoft Office or at SAP's R/3 to see the truth of this. (I'd even say that because powerful software is now so cheap, we've created a glut of output.)

Read properly, The Mythical Man Month remains as insightful today as in the seventies and eighties. Brooks's style is friendly but professional and business like. Budding project managers will find many useful insights.

Vincent Poirier, Tokyo

After reading Eric Raymond's book "The Art of UNIX Programming", I realized there were important concepts to learn about the software development PROCESS itself. I had heard of this book, but didn't know much else about it beyond its title. I was stunned when I first saw its original publication date, and almost didn't bother reading it. Luckily for me, I started it, and the first chapter captured my mind so entirely that I didn't put it down until I'd finished the entire book (that same Saturday). This book gave me an insight into how the people of the last 50 years developed the industry of software development, and the insights of Fred Brooks back in 1975 still had an impact on me and the processes I saw in practice at my job and in the various "new" development methodologies I'd heard about in the industry today. I highly recommend this to anyone who's been in the software development environment for at least three years... I think that having less experience would make it difficult for you to step back and look at your own processes from a higher plane... this book would sound more to you like a project manager's work diary rather than the true gem that it is.

I highly recommend reading this book if your a fresh graduate, Software Developer, Project Manager, play an architectural role or are in any way connected software Project irrespective of its size and complexity.

This book was especially important for me, I read it just before I began as program manager with a startup.

The book offers insight into the key roles behind every Project, timelines, product integrity, size, programmer efficiency, productivity, communication and other variables that have a significant impact on Software projects. The author does not preach, instead he offers clear-cut arguments based on his experiences as the architect of OS/360 with IBM. Objectively evaluate them for yourself. This book definitely offers a tremendous learning experience.

A classic book about the development and management of large scale software projects. One of the industries veterans shares his experience and his views gathered mainly during the development process of the IBM OS/360 operating system. Yes, this book is more than 20 years old - which makes it even more interesting (or shall I even say: sad?) to see that many of the observed shortcomings and pitfalls are still the industries greatest problems today. Maybe all management and developers alike should be required to read this book prior to getting a job in the field. Although the book does feature some code examples these are few and far in between, it's main focus lies on the coordination and management aspects of software projects. The somewhat poetical title hints at one of the most stressed points, namely that men are not interchangeable and that twice as many engineers don't cut development times in half. Brooks also offers his opinions on the psychological aspects of systems design, backed up by his experience and occasional statistical evidence. This anniversary edition features a review by the author, where he sums up what points he thinks remain valid in hindsight more than twenty years later.
I particularly enjoyed a beautiful chapter titled: 'The joys of the craft' where Brooks tries to explain what fascinates and captures him about programming. If you happen to be stuck on a frustrating stretch of your project - read this chapter and you'll feel better - I did.

A good and easy to read book. A must read for everyone involved in big SW projects