Dynamics of Software Development

Dynamics of Software Development
Jim McCarthy

Shipping great software can be done, insists McCarthy, and charts, in five sections, the progress from initial design to successful product. McCarthy is a software industry veteran and the director of the Microsoft Visual C++ development group.

Recensie: "This book changed my life. It is based on a talk that Jim McCarthy gave while at Microsoft teaching people how the Visual C++ team went from the goats of the company (which was founded on languages, not operating systems of office applications), to the premiere group, shipping on time and using a newly invented subscription model. The art in the book is worth the price alone. The advice is timeless and none of the "rules of thumb" will ever go out of style no matter which agile practice is the rage today.
My favorite rule is "Beware a man in a room", related to to the "Don't go dark" rule. These are rules which say beware when your best programmer has locked herself in a room and is always "almost" done. Jim says it's almost always a guy - which is probably true, but I've seen it with both genders and it is never pretty. Don't go dark just means, always offer status to your group regardless of being asked - it's like a radio station - keep working, but don't go dark.
There are plenty of books about agile this, and lean that, but this is the one that started it all.
Jim was agile before agile was cool. My autographed copy is a prize on my shelf."