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The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition (2nd Edition) Anniversary Edition

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Frederick P. Brooks Jr. (Author)
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Frederick P. Brooks Jr. (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 273 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 858-0001065793
ISBN-10: 0201835959
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; Anniversary edition (August 12, 1995)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0201835959
  • ISBN-13: 978-0201835953
  • Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.8 x 9.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (273 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsI would give it a 100 stars if I could!
By A. Imran on May 29, 2004
Format: Paperback
If you have managed some software projects or have worked on some non-trivial software systems, undoubtedly you have faced many difficulties and challenges that you thought were unique to your circumstance. But after reading this book, you will realize that many of the things you experienced, and thought were unique problems, are NOT unique to you but are common systemic problems of developing non-trivial software systems. These problems appear repeatedly and even predictably, in project after project, in company after company, regardless of year, whether it's 1967 or 2007.
You will realize that long before maybe you were even born, other people working at places like IBM had already experienced those problems and quandries. And found working solutions to them which are as valid today as they were 30 years ago.
The suggestions in this book will help you think better and better manage yourself, and be more productive and less wasteful with your time and energy. In short, you will do more with less.
Some of Brooks insights and generalizations are:
The Mythical Man-Month:
Assigning more programmers to a project running behind schedule, may make it even more late.
The Second-System Effect:
The second system an engineer designs is the most bloated system she will EVER design.
Conceptual Integrity:
To retain conceptual integrity and thereby user-friendliness, a system must have a single architect (or a small system architecture team), completely separate from the implementation team.
The Manual:
The chief architect should produce detailed written specifications for the system in the form of the manual, which leaves no ambiguities about any part of the system and completely specifies the external spcifications of the system i.e.Read more ›
11 Comments 377 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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5.0 out of 5 starsA timeless classic "must read"
By B. Scott Andersen on February 22, 2001
Format: Paperback
There are few must reads in this industry. This is one. First published in 1975, this work is as applicable to software engineering today as it was then. Why? Because building things, including software, has always been as much about people as it has been about materials or technology--and people don't change much in only 25 years.

In the preface to the First Edition, Brooks states "This book is a belated answer to Tom Watson's probing question as to why programming is hard to manage." This short book (at just over 300 pages) does a masterful job answering that question.

It is here we first hear of Brooks's Law: "Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later." Brooks doesn't just drop that on the reader without explanation. Instead, he walks through the reasoning, discusses how communication in a group changes as the group changes or grows, and how additions to the group need time to climb the learning curve.

Those new to the industry or who are reading the book for the first time might be put off by the examples and technology discussed. Indeed, even in the newly released edition, the original text from 1975 is still present, essentially untouched. So, talk of OS/360 and 7090s, which permeates the text, is perhaps laughable to those not looking deeper. When talking about trade-offs, for example, Brooks offers "... OS/360 devotes 26 bytes of the permanently resident date-turnover routine to the proper handling of December 31 on leap years (when it is day 366). That might have been left to the operator." This is 26 bytes he's talking about!

Brooks provides a light, almost conversational tone to the prose. This isn't to say the observations and analysis were not very well researched.Read more ›
3 Comments 63 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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5.0 out of 5 starsMust reading, but too seldom read
By Bruce F. Webster on April 27, 2000
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
In giving testimony before Congress a few years ago on IT issues, I said the following:
"Humanity has been developing information technology for half a century. That experience has taught us this unpleasant truth: virtually every information technology project above a certain size or complexity is significantly late and over budget or fails altogether; those that don't fail are often riddled with defects and difficult to enhance. Fred Brooks explored many of the root causes over twenty years ago in The Mythical Man-Month, a classic book that could be regarded as the Bible of information technology because it is universally known, often quoted, occasionally read, and rarely heeded."
I have been involved in software engineering for over 25 years, have written many articles and even a few books on the subject. Yet every time I think I've discovered some new insight, chances are I can find it tucked away somewhere in The Mythical Man-Month. And the tarpits and other dangers he lays out plague the IT industry today. I wonder when we will grasp and apply the fundamental insights that Brooks, Jerry Weinberg, and others laid out nearly three decades ago. ..bruce..
1 Comment 148 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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5.0 out of 5 starsOldy but Goody
By Joanna Daneman #1 HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on March 5, 2001
Format: Paperback
This book is a classic, but recently revised and corrected. The amazing thing is how relevant the book still is to software product development. If you are involved in software, this book is a must-read.
The most valuable part of the book, I believe, is the "plan to throw out" prototype chapter. While the goal is always to make a bigger, better, fast whatever, it is almost an axiom that you WILL build something that has to be discarded and reworked. This absolutely happens every time, I can tell you from first-hand experience. Therefore it is vital to plan to throw out so you can migrate your users to whatever will follow. If you dream that the first product is THE ONE, you risk abandoning them on a product that will inevitably evolve. Planning the throw-away also helps meet the schedule goals by setting reasonable milestones that can be met.
In my role as a product manager for a top-selling software product in its class, I found that the Mythical Man-Month was absolutely vital. However, some additional reading is recommended; Walker Royce's Software Project Management was published in 1998 and adds the dimension of software project evolution. This goes into more detail why you can't write all the specifications upfront, and even if you do, they are certain to change by the time the product is released.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

thanks!!

Published 6 days ago by George
5.0 out of 5 starsa classic

excelent book! nothing else to say!

Published 21 days ago by esteban
5.0 out of 5 starsMust read

Absolutely a must read book for all who works on projects, not just for IT.

Published 22 days ago by SUN AILIN
5.0 out of 5 starsA Classis

The Mythical Man Month is one of the great classics of computing. Some of the original work feels dated because so much has changed since 1975. Read more

Published 29 days ago by Alan Zucker
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

I thought this was spot on - a good (better) way to think about staffing software projects.

Published 2 months ago by Todd Ruch
5.0 out of 5 starsone of the CS book i think of the most

I reflect back on this book mor than any other CS book. decades later. highy recommended, especially if ou ever wang to manage.

Published 2 months ago by Daniel S. Mayer
4.0 out of 5 starsStill relevant

Book clearly describes the nuts and bolts of software development. Some project examples from the past are still valid today in 2016 and in that way, the book is still relevant to... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Kresimir Koncic
3.0 out of 5 starsGood read to brush through concepts

I liked this book but while reading through, I kept wondering why I was recommended this book, given today's advanced state of software development. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Jayeeta Bhowal
5.0 out of 5 starsA timeless book after >30 years. The stable price ...

A timeless book after >30 years. The stable price reflects this classic wisdom. I keep buying copies because the ones I loan out keep getting passed forward. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Peter M. Allen
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

An essential book for anyone in the software industry.

Published 3 months ago by Julia

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