End of Software, The: Finding Security, Flexibility, and Profit in the On Demand Future

Brooks's Law

Few books on software development have been as influential as Fred Brooks's Mythical Man Month, originally published in June 1975 and now available in a 20th Anniversary Edition published in 1995. Much of Brooks's original book was based on his experiences as the development manager of IBM's OS/360. Originally developed in the mid 1960s, OS/360 was at the time the largest single software development project ever undertaken. He recounts that the project could not be considered an unqualified success. He writes of several flaws in the design and execution of the system and ultimately concludes that the project was late, well over budget, and underperformed expectations for the first several releases. Not much has changed in the nearly ...