Pitfall: Allowing the specification to drift or change without agreement
[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)] Categories: managerial Let’s start by freely acknowledging that, with rare exceptions, software of any complexity...
View ArticlePitfall: Allowing new features to creep (or pour) in
[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)] Categories: managerial The impulse to constantly add new and incremental features to a software program certainly isn’t...
View ArticleNew column for Ziff Davis: “Surviving Complexity”
I’ve been working for some time on a book called Surviving Complexity. Many of my posts over at brucefwebster.com have adapted from materials I’m writing for that book. Well, now I’ve been hired by...
View ArticlePitfall: Misjudging relative costs
[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)] Categories: managerial This is a classic pitfall in software engineering. Typically, insufficient time is allocated for...
View ArticlePitfall: Lying to yourself and others
[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)] Categories: managerial Self delusion and group delusion are all too common in software development projects. Several...
View ArticleSo long, Steve, and Godspeed.
The second personal computer I ever owned[1] was an Apple II, with no floppy drive. I bought it, along with a small color TV, from my close friend Robert Trammel while we were both living in Houston...
View ArticleReadings in Software Engineering (RISE): a new series of posts
I have been collecting and reading books on software engineering since the 1970s, but I have found over the decades that the vast majority of programmers (and their managers) are unfamiliar with most...
View ArticleRISE: The Psychology of Computer Programming (Gerald M. Weinberg, 1971/1998)
[The first of a planned series of posts on "Readings in Software Engineering"] [Version 1.1 of this post, revised/extended on 05/22/2012] The Psychology of Computer Programming, Gerald M. Weinberg, Van...
View ArticleRISE: Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (DeMarco & Lister, 1987)
[The third in a series of posts on Readings in Software Engineering. Previous post: The Mythical Man-Month, Frederick J. Brooks Jr. (1975/1995).] Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams. Tom DeMarco...
View ArticleIT Snapshot: Chapter 1 of “The Mythical Man-Month”
Over forty years of working in information technology (IT) have taught me how few people have ever actually read some of the most important books in software engineering and IT project management. I...
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