The book of People's Month myth

The book of People's Month myth

The first time I heard the name of the book "People's Moon myth," it looked like a dark myth, and I thought it was a fairy tale, and I didn't know it was the opposite of what I imagined when I opened the book. What the author wants to say is that the concepts of project progress and the addition of personnel in software development projects are not interchangeable with the relevant principles.

in the field of software, few can have far-reaching and best-selling works like the Myth of Man and month. Dr. Brooks provides the most insightful insight into managing complex projects, with a lot of thought-provoking ideas and a wealth of software engineering practices. The book comes from Dr. Brooks's project management experience in IBM's system/360 family and os/360, a model of software development project management that establishes its classic position in the industry. 20 years after the first edition, Brooks re-examined his original ideas and added some new ideas and suggestions. The new additions include: the essence of some of the core ideas in the original book; After an era, Dr. Brooks a new understanding of the original idea, the 1986 classic article "No silver Bullet", and the current understanding of the 1986 verdict (no silver bullet in 10 years).

Perhaps because of the title, I have a strong interest in this book, I would like to pass this book to know what the author asked for this book to go to such a name, I also try to use their own methods to explain the name of the book, I personally think that "people" should represent the software development of the crowd, "month" Represents the time required for software development, the reason why people do not become a myth, it is because of the increase in staff and also increased the communication between people, some can not clearly say the function list; Some do not have the ability to know where the barriers to development may be encountered; Others do not know the true abilities of the team; Some of them are more than the larger of the set. In some cases, I'm one of them. Speaking of the Myth of Human month, all our progress is measured by the production of Human month code, and the increase of "person" does not shorten the amount of "month".

It can be called classics because this book has its important contribution, deeply affect our thinking and consciousness, the main contribution lies in the software development process of several key points, put forward a unique insight:

include the following points

(1) A team organization that advocates surgical operations:
The excessive democracy in the Software development organization often brings about inefficiency and accountability, and the people involved have too many ideas and uneven levels. Therefore, the organization of software development, should learn from the surgical approach of the team, there is a major person in charge, others are the deputy of Division and collaboration, so that the best efficiency, the best results.
(2) The core concept of a software project needs to be done by a very small number of people to ensure the integrity of the concept:
Less is more, the position of the project needs and the balance of the function how much. Too many ideas, so that the project has no focus, everything should be put in, the result is nothing like;
(3) The necessary communication means in the process of software development;
The biggest risk in software development is not the defect of technology, but the lack of communication;
(4) How to maintain proper documentation:
In development, keep the documentation in moderation. Like too many documents, forget the document is not the final product, not the user needs, and finally thought the document is good, is good development, in fact, is not at all.
(5) in the process of software development, only modest improvement, there is no cure all the silver bullet.
In the process of software development, what is important is not the use of tools, but regardless of the tools used, to achieve the project's own customer needs. Before any methodology, we must first explore the source of the problem, otherwise, the dependence or misuse of various methodologies is harmful.

What inspires me most in this book is that the use of professional and advanced tools does not necessarily improve productivity and quality, which is a great wake-up effect for me. I've always been superstitious. These good tools and good systems, thinking that with these, the whole process, all work can be normal. Now, it is not necessary to think about it. If you want to improve the quality of work and efficiency, the correct way is to gradually solve the problems in the work. Often some small management skills than complex software and system to the effective, simple word+excel+ppt with the better than the high-level management software poor. 　

The book of People's Month myth