Book Recommendation: The Mythical Man-Month

I end up reading a lot of software engineering books for my classes at PSU’s OMSE program.  “The Mythical Man-Month” is the first assigned book in the curriculum, and for good reason.  It’s one of the seminal texts on the topic of software project management, and offers several insightful ideas.

About The Author

Fred Brooks worked for IBM in the 50’s and 60’s as a manager for their OS/360 operating system.  He’s very articulate and uses plenty of humor and interesting historical references in his writing.   Here are a few of the book’s highlights:   

Brooks’s Law

Fred’s quote "adding manpower to a late software project makes it later” became known as Brook’s Law.  He argues that just as nine women can’t make a baby in one month, additional developers don’t necessarily help you release software sooner.  This is caused by the communication and training required when adding new team members.

No Silver Bullet

Brooks asserts that there is no magical tool or methodology that will provide software engineers a 10 fold productivity gain.  He separates the essential difficulties of producing software (e.g. Complexity, Difficult to Visualize) from the “accidental” difficulties (Lack of Tools, Clunky Languages).  It’s a good concept to keep in mind with the next development fad comes along offering to solve all of your problems. 

Conceptual Integrity

The book emphasizes the importance of preserving the conceptual integrity of the system, especially on large projects.  Brooks makes the case for a single architect (or small group of architects) creating the design of the overall product.  He offers some good tips on how the people working on the big picture should interact with the engineers implementing the design.

Why Would I Read This Book?

I’m a big fan of history and think there’s much to be learned from the successes and failures of past generations.  Although this book discusses some ancient programming practices that we (thankfully) don’t have to deal with today, I think it’s a great read for anyone concerned with delivering a software product on time and under budget.

Is Social Media Killing RSS?

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a great way to consume information on the web. Clicking on the orange RSS icon (available on most blogs and news sites) allows you to "subscribe" to that source using your favorite RSS Reader. I recommend using most popular one: Google Reader.

However, despite its usefulness, RSS hasn't really seen massive adoption. Recently I've heard many techy types exclaiming they've stopped checking their RSS Reader. Instead they're finding more relevant links on Twitter. Social sites like Twitter are specifically built to encourage a lot of sharing. If you use Twitter to follow people in your industry, you'll inevitably be exposed to interesting discussion and links to very relevant topics.

Another emerging player in the link-sharing business is Facebook. Unlike RSS readers, Facebook has seen massive adoption, now boasting over 400 million users. Average folks can understand Facebook's simple interface. They’re also finding that it’s pretty easy to share news articles and Youtube links with their friends and family on Facebook.

So, have social media sites killed RSS before it reached its full potential? Personally I'm still using RSS for a number of things. Here are a few of my favorite uses for RSS:

Handy Uses for RSS

1. Blogs - I'm a big fan of getting notified rather than constantly checking websites. If you follow a few dozen blogs, you don't want to be checking each of them every day for new posts. RSS readers allow you to browse quickly through new posts.
2. Discover People on Twitter - Twitter's advanced search provides an RSS feed for your search results. For example, if you're an avid rock climber, you can search for people within 25 miles of your city who mention "rock climbing" in their tweet. Checking the RSS feed can help you discover local, like-minded enthusiasts.
3. Craigslist Searches - Craigslist also provides an RSS feed for search results. Let's say you’re looking for an apartment downtown for between $600 and $1200. After your first search, subscribe to the RSS feed, and you can stop obsessively checking Craigslist every few hours! The most recent results will be waiting for you in Google Reader.

Do you think RSS will survive? Will it be killed by more popular information sharing tools? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

iPad Blog Post Roundup

Yesterday was a monumental day for tech news. I eagerly awaited Steve Job's keynote presentation about Apple's revolutionary new tablet device: the iPad. Later that night I found myself relentlessly searching for perspectives from the tech community. Here's a summary of the blog posts I found most interesting.

The Uncomputer

Daniel Tenner's post "iPad: and Apple for Mom" explains why the iPad may be exactly what the masses have been waiting for. He argues that "most people don't need a proper computer at all."

Marketing

Rory Marinich's amusing post "This is why it's worth learning about advertising" discusses Apple's sales pitch: Our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price. He describes the iPad as: "simply put, a magical screen that can do anything you ever want it to, no matter what that is."

Inspiration

Miguel de Icaza's post "iPad - Inspirational Hardware" talks about his excitement for building applications on a touch-based computer. He wants to build apps using his favorite language, C# (which I use at my job).

Regret

Alex Payne's post "On the iPad" expresses his concern that the closed nature of the device may be detrimental to the next generation. He states "if I had an iPad rather than a real computer as a kid, I’d never be a programmer today."

My Personal Take

I'd love to use the iPad as an information consuming device. Often times I read news in bed and other non-desk locations. The iPhone has provided me with lots of innovative apps that help me find exactly the information I'm after. Although I don't have $500 burning a hole in my pocket, I can certainly see the allure and this new book/blog/news reading gadget. Am I too caught up in all the hype?

Start the Conversation with a Programming Standard

A common topic in my software engineering courses is: "How do I help my team increase the quality of our software?" There are several best practices we can use to reduce defects in our code and ensure that it has all the good "ilities" (Readability, Maintainability, Testability, etc). One of the easiest techniques is to create a Programming Standard document.

What Are The Benefits of Using a Programming Standard?

Many good things can happen when you draft up a programming standard. I think one of the best effects is that your team will start discussing best practices and quality. One or two people can create the document then present it to the group for discussion. If everyone starts abiding by the guidelines, it can add consistency to your code base, making it seem more like the work of one author. The person maintaining the code five years from now will love you for it.

Also, you may want to start doing code reviews at some point. Numerous studies show that finding and fixing defects early is much cheaper than discovering them after you release. Code reviews can help spot problems before you release to QA. If your team has already agreed on a programming standard, you can use it to evaluate code. The religious debates about curly brace placement will have already occurred, so you don't have to re-hash those discussions during each review.

How Do I Get Started?

My advice is to aim for a one or two page document. Break it up into a few sections (e.g. Naming Conventions, Comments, Error Handling). Include a brief description at the start of each section that explains why the topic is important. Try not to use too much strict language ("Thou shalt never...") and focus on general guidelines ("Avoid methods with more than X lines of code").

If you're looking for examples, the book Code Complete by Steve McConnell includes lots of checklist and well-researched rules.If you'd like to see the programming standard I created in class, send me a note.

Do you use a programming standard on your team? Is it helping?