Mythical Man Month
martinfowler.com
Mythical Man Month
1–10 of 219 posts
Re: Mythical Man Month
#2Look, I read it and loved it 25 hyears ago.
Fred Brooks wrote that book when they were programming IBM operating systems in assembly language.
Times have really, really changed - do not pay attention to the messages of this book unless for historical fun.
Re: Mythical Man Month
#3Look, I read it and loved it 25 hyears ago. Fred Brooks wrote that book when they were programming IBM operating systems in assembly language. Times have really, really changed - do not pay attention to the messages of this book unless for historical fun.
The lessons in that book have broadly held true for nearly every single one of my employers throughout the entirety of my career.
Re: Mythical Man Month
#4Look, I read it and loved it 25 hyears ago. Fred Brooks wrote that book when they were programming IBM operating systems in assembly language. Times have really, really changed - do not pay attention to the messages of this book unless for historical fun.
Our field is full of vague, terrible opinions and useless advice. Arrogant people that think they're better than others.
That book isn't, it's built from humility and a rare bright light in this god forsaken field.
Re: Mythical Man Month
#5Look, I read it and loved it 25 hyears ago. Fred Brooks wrote that book when they were programming IBM operating systems in assembly language. Times have really, really changed - do not pay attention to the messages of this book unless for historical fun.
IMHO, Brooks's Law applies more today than ever.
Re: Mythical Man Month
#6[flagged]
Re: Mythical Man Month
#7Look, I read it and loved it 25 hyears ago. Fred Brooks wrote that book when they were programming IBM operating systems in assembly language. Times have really, really changed - do not pay attention to the messages of this book unless for historical fun.
IMHO, Brooks's Law applies more today than ever.
I was half expecting Fowler to tie it in to right-sizing agent teams.
Re: Mythical Man Month
#8Notably, his essay “no silver bullet” states that there has never been a new technology or way of thinking or working that has led to a 10X increase in the speed of software development.
That was true for almost seventy years until roughly last year.
AI is the silver bullet - my output is genuinely 10X what it was before claude code existed.
Re: Mythical Man Month
#9Notably, his essay “no silver bullet” states that there has never been a new technology or way of thinking or working that has led to a 10X increase in the speed of software development. That was true for almost seventy years until roughly last year. AI is the silver bullet - my output is genuinely 10X what it was before claude code existed.
10x would only be possible if your output was low before Claude Code
Re: Mythical Man Month
#10Look, I read it and loved it 25 hyears ago. Fred Brooks wrote that book when they were programming IBM operating systems in assembly language. Times have really, really changed - do not pay attention to the messages of this book unless for historical fun.
Indeed a lot of things have changed. A worthwhile exercise is to read the book, contemplate how things have changed, and try to map lessons from the book onto modern technology and organizational practices. A LOT of the core principles are still relevant IMO, even if many of the implementation details are not.