Codermetrics

Chapter 7. Metrics in Use

Essentially this has been a business that’s been around for over a hundred years and it really hasn’t changed much so any time someone’s doing something differently, it’s probably going to take some friction.

—Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics, 1998–present

Software development has existed as a significant industry for less than fifty years. But that’s more than long enough for organizational philosophies to take hold and become entrenched, especially given the size that the industry has grown to. Certainly, many practices have evolved and improved, and software itself has facilitated faster and wider communications that have increased the pace of its evolution. But within each organization, within every team, you develop a way of doing things, and once methods are established then change is hard. Why change, especially if things are already working well?

As I will try to explain in this chapter, I don’t suggest you change what you’re doing, I only suggest you incorporate metrics to inform your decisions and help you find gradual ways to improve your software teams. Metrics don’t have to involve a change in process or methodology or management style. They can be woven into your existing practices with just a small amount of additional effort and time.

Not everyone, of course, will be receptive or even interested. Even for those who accept that codermetrics don’t require radical change, they still might ask what the value is, and why bother? ...