Software Best Practices

Glass leverages Fact 6 on this one. Because developers don't work through the learning curve of new tools they don't see the productivity gains and quick using the tool. Often this is because so many projects are schedule driven and its common for people in a stressful situation to revert back...

This is one of the central themes of the book. Awareness of these facts & fallacies enables one to think critically about the latest doodad and make a sound business decision. Three observations come to mind. - Decision making in academia and industry is different. - Software is still more craft...

Hype is the plague on the house of software. Most software tool and technique improvements account for about 5 to 35 percent increase in productivity and quality. But at one time or another, most of those same improvements have been claimed by someone to have "order of magnitude" benefits.

Earl, That’s a good distinction. I’ve worked in several teams that benefited from sitting close together in an arrangement to facilitate communication. I’ve also been in quiet office space and been productive there too. I agree with this fact but I’ll play devil’s advocate. I’ve worked in some small...

My article "Brooks Law Repealed" is often misunderstood. My point is that most people unintentionally misapply Brooks' Law. The law is not "adding people to a project makes it later." The law is "adding people to a late project makes it later." Brooks' point is that...

It is interesting that it Glass quotes my boss as the loyal opposition. I don’t think McConnell would agree (I will have to corner him and ask him). McConnell position is more of using careful planning rather than throwing resources at a problem. Further, McConnell recently shared with me some data from...

This is mostly true. Pfeffer and Sutton claim in their book Hard Facts, Dangerous Half Truths and Total Nonsense that great people is not enough. It has been a bit since I read the book but the idea is that crappy process will drive out good people. Moderate process and moderate people actually outperform...