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Debugging the Development Process : Practical Strategies for Staying Focused, Hitting Ship Dates, and Building Solid Teams Paperback – Bargain Price, July 31, 1994

by Steve Maguire (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 25 ratings
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In Debugging the Development Process, Maguire describes the sometimes controversial but always effective practices that enabled his software teams at Microsoft to develop high-quality software - on schedule. With the refreshing candor reviewers admired in Writing Solid Code, Maguire talks about what did and what didn't work at Microsoft and tells you how to energize software teams to work effectively - and to enjoy their work; why you might want to kick your star programmer off your team; how to avoid corporate snares and overblown corporate processes; which tiny changes produce major results; how to deliver on schedule and without overwork; how to pull twice the value out of everything you do; how to get your team going on a creative roll; and how to raise the average programmer level at your company.
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  1. Print length
    183 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Microsoft Press
  4. Publication date
    July 31, 1994
  5. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

In Debugging the Development Process, Maguire describes the sometimes controversial but always effective practices that enabled his software teams at Microsoft to develop high-quality software - on schedule. With the refreshing candor reviewers admired in Writing Solid Code, Maguire talks about what did and what didn't work at Microsoft and tells you how to energize software teams to work effectively - and to enjoy their work; why you might want to kick your star programmer off your team; how to avoid corporate snares and overblown corporate processes; which tiny changes produce major results; how to deliver on schedule and without overwork; how to pull twice the value out of everything you do; how to get your team going on a creative roll; and how to raise the average programmer level at your company. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00005R08G
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Microsoft Press (July 31, 1994)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 183 pages
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 25 ratings

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  1. Steve McConnell

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
25 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

jgj
5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Software development team leads and Managers
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2008
A co-worker recommended the book so I pick up a used copy from a 3rd party vendor here on the Amazon site. Been reading the book and it is absolutely as good as my co-worker suggested.

Great ideas on how to lead software development teams. Lots of practical advice from someone who has been leading teams at Microsoft for years.

I find the ideas useful, refreshing, and focused on making the best of your software developer resources. So much of what we end up doing in todays corporate world takes away valuable time and creates an less than idea environment for productive work.

If you're buried in the development process at you're company this is a _must_ read to inspire you to take a look at you're teams, how to motivate them, and keep them focused on developing and improving the product.
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Tom O Bjorkholm
3.0 out of 5 stars Smooth reading but simplistic
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 1999
The language is easy to read and the style contributes to fast and smooth reading. The book can also be read very fast because there is not enough new facts in the book to slow you down.
The book mainly explains the obvious (although too often ignored) practices that helps your development project: stay focused, avoid distractions, avoid interruptions, avoid wasting time, avoid unnecessary meetings (meetings are interruptions and far too often a waste of time), fix bugs early. The book has some stories to explain the above practices. But, the book has no hard facts to help you fight for the above practices in case you have a "pointy haired" boss.
In my opinion "Rapid Development" by Steve McConnel is a far better book. "Rapid development" has all the hard facts that "Debugging the development process" lacks. "Rapid development" also describes more practices and has a broader view of the development project that "Debugging the development process".
41 people found this helpful
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John Sharp
4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent guide for development managers seeking guidance
Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 1998
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I recommend this book to anyone managing (or thinking of managing) a development team. It contains practical advice, good examples, and a real world feel for how developers work (and can improve their work) and how managers can "stay out of their way" so that they can get their work done. This is one of the only Microsoft Press books that I read from cover to cover. Highly recommended!
2 people found this helpful
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Philip R. Heath
5.0 out of 5 stars Quick Read That's Worth Your Time
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2004
When I read this book, the information seemed simple and obvious. However, I also realized that there were a number of things mentioned that I wasn't doing. That begs the question: Is the material that simple and obvious? Maybe not.

Maguire gives some simple, practicle advice for improving the development environment that a manager is responsible for. For example, he recommends starting each day by asking, "What can I do today that will help keep the project on track for the next few months?"

I also found the section on feedback loops to be interesting. The suggestion that you have a person stop feature work to fix a bug that they created as soon as it is found is a way to emphasize quality and make it in the best interest of developers to produce high quality code.

The chapter on attitudes is also very good. Much of the time, there isn't a lot knowledge wise that separtes good and bad developers. The difference comes in attitude. Attitudes such as, "We can't do that!", "The users won't care!", "Bugs are going to happen!" need to be rooted out.

This book gives good insight as to what you as a manager can do and help your developers do in order to have smoother projects that are high quality and on time.
One person found this helpful
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Lee
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!!
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2002
This is a good book on software development process improvements. Steve talks about practical strategies for staying focused, hitting ship dates and building solid teams. These strategies are common-sense but are often ignored by managers, project manager and technical leads.
Chapter 1 talks about "laying the groundwork" -- priorities work, establish goals, coding priorites. How true this is ... how often have we started development when we are unsure of what the management wants to achieve out of it.
Some of the other strategies include having 40 hour week(hmm ... reminds me of Extreme Programming) and about the danger of having working 12 hours per day. He also spoke about ensuring personal growth in dividuals, and how it directly helps the company.
This book is written in simple english, straight to the point. To everyone doing software development, this is a must-read!!!
5 people found this helpful
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dara_gallagher@hotmail.com
1.0 out of 5 stars A long winded statement of the obvious
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 1999
This book contains some obvious advice which could easily have been condensed into under five pages. Obviously people don't pay money for five page books, so the author struggles to pad the meagre hard advice with patronising anecdotes. Life is too short to waste time reading books like this. Try the superiour "The Mythical Man Month" if you want to read software development anecdotes with some general advice. Unlike the latter, I doubt that "Debugging the Development Process" will be talked about and reprinted in 30 years time.
9 people found this helpful
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Jonathan L. Conradt
5.0 out of 5 stars Too Bad it is Out of Print
Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2002
This is really a very good book. I wanted to use it as a textbook for a Software Engineering class I am teaching, but now that it is out of print I felt I couldn't.
Anyone who needs to manage programmers, or is dependent on programmers should read this book. It is also a good read for anyone looking to help improve the overall productivity of "information workers." Simple things like how and why you schedule your meetings make a big impact.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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KWASNIK, JACEK
5.0 out of 5 stars Ware pünktlich angekommen
Reviewed in Germany on August 20, 2013
Verified Purchase
Zustand - bestens. Das Buch ist sehr zu empfehlen für alle darüber nachdenken wollen und die ZEIT dazu aufwenden können, um die gleiche Fehler nicht mehr zu machen
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Jamie O'Shaughnessy
5.0 out of 5 stars Old school but great
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2011
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I read this book maybe 15 years ago and it was a formative experience for me. Since then I've gone on to work in large software companies in product development/software engineering and the general sentiment and approach often laid out in this book has stayed with me.

It's probably way out of date in terms of technology these days. But if you can read past that, read into it the general ideas and approaches, there is a wealthy of experience.
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Antonio Pineda Cabello
4.0 out of 5 stars Product in good condition, sending correct
Reviewed in Germany on November 11, 2014
Verified Purchase
The book was sent in perfect condition. The book was used but the conservation was very good. The sending was correct.
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