TITLE: the mythical man month

[ For a break from C++, here is a summary of a classic work in
  software development management provided in the cpp newsletter,
  Issue #005, Jan 96. This is redistributed with permission of the
  author. Copyright notice follows. -adc ]

	Copyright (c) 1996 Glen McCluskey.  All Rights Reserved.

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	copyright and contact information at the bottom.

	Glen McCluskey & Associates
	Professional C++ Consulting
	Internet: glenm@glenmccl.com
	Phone: (970) 490-2462
	Fax: (970) 490-2463
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[...]

BOOK REVIEW - THE MYTHICAL MAN-MONTH

Some of you may have heard of the book "The Mythical Man-Month" by
Fred Brooks.  It was first published in 1975 and was updated last
year.  It is published by Addison-Wesley and costs about $25, and is
considered a classic with 250,000 copies in print.  Brooks was the
manager of the project that developed OS/360 during the early 1960s.

The subject of the book is software development and the complexities
associated with it.  In the earlier chapters, which have not been
updated since the 1975 edition, he talks about a variety of issues.
One of my favorite parts is in the first chapter, entitled "The Tar
Pit".  In the discussion in this chapter he distinguishes four stages
in the evolution of a finished software product:

        (1)  a program

        (2)  a programming system, with interfaces and system
        integration

        (3)  a programming product, with generalization, testing,
        documentation, and maintenance

        (4)  a programming systems product

A program is something you might quickly put together in a few hours
or days or weeks.  But to take the additional two steps of coming up
with a programming system or programming product is a lot of
additional work, on the order of 3X as Brooks describes it.  Each of
these steps is independent, therefore Brooks talks about a 9X ratio of
cost between a program and a programming systems product.

Of course, 9X isn't a magic figure, but it captures the huge
difference in cost between hacking out a few thousand lines of code
over the weekend and putting out a polished product to customers.

The book has been updated with significant new material.  He discusses
the promise and practicality of object-oriented programming, software
reuse, and so on.

Highly recommended.