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By bfwebster on Jul 7, 2008 in Articles, Baseline, Development, IT Project Management, Main, Management, Pitfalls | 0 Comments
My latest Baseline column is up, talking about the challenges of a geographically-distributed software development project. Take a look. ..bruce..
By bfwebster on Jun 24, 2008 in Intellectual property, Lawsuits, Main, Patents | 0 Comments
According to this story over at PocketLink, Typhoon Touch Technologies has “’significantly expanded’ its patent infringement suit begun in December 2007 against Dell by adding Apple, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Lenovo, Panasonic, HTC, Palm, Samsung, Nokia and LG” — in other words, just about every firm that manufactures a “portable computer with touch screen and computer system [...]
By bfwebster on Jun 23, 2008 in IT Project Management, Main, Management, PMSE, Pitfalls, Recruiting | 0 Comments
[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)]
Categories: managerial
Various industry studies cite the productivity gap between the best and the worst developers. While there is some controversy over the ranges often cited (such as the famous 26:1 figure), anyone who has managed a diverse group of developers won’t argue [...]
By bfwebster on Jun 23, 2008 in IT Project Management, Main, Management, Metrics, PMSE, Pitfalls | 0 Comments
[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)]
Categories: managerial
That which gets measured gets accomplished or, at least, evaluated. That’s why various software metrics are used as an indication of progress and accomplishment. The best known and easiest to compute is lines of code (LOC), usually measured as thousands of [...]
By bfwebster on Jun 23, 2008 in Books, IT Project Management, Main, Management, PMSE, Pitfalls | 0 Comments
[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)]
Categories: managerial
Self delusion and group delusion are all too common in software development projects. Several factors combine to bring this about. One is the natural optimism prevalent among software engineers, particularly when they are not allowed, encouraged, or required to spend sufficient [...]
By bfwebster on Jun 19, 2008 in Articles, Baseline, Management, Metrics, Surviving Complexity | 0 Comments
My newest Baseline column is up: “Lies, Damned Lies, and Project Metrics (part 3)“. In it, I wrap up my discussion on IT project metrics, outlining a possible approach using instrumentation and heuristics. Go check it out. ..bruce..
By bfwebster on Jun 13, 2008 in Baseline, Metrics, Surviving Complexity | 0 Comments
My newest Baseline column is up: “Lies, Damned Lies, and Project Metrics (part 2)“. In it, I talk about why it’s so hard to apply metrics to IT project management and begin to suggest an approach. Go check it out. ..bruce..
By bfwebster on Jun 9, 2008 in Main, Management, PMSE, Pitfalls | 0 Comments
[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)]
Categories: managerial
What are the risks in modern software development? Look at the pitfalls listed in this book to start. Kind of makes you want to take up gardening, doesn’t it? On the other hand, being able to identify those risks and then manage [...]
By bfwebster on Jun 9, 2008 in Books, Main, Management, Methodology, PMSE, Pitfalls, Quality assurance | 1 Comment
[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)]
Categories: managerial
This is a classic pitfall in software engineering. Typically, insufficient time is allocated for the problem specification, research, design, architecture, and review that should occur before coding and during each development cycle. Likewise, software quality assurance (SQA) is often given little [...]
By bfwebster on Jun 5, 2008 in Articles, Books, Main, Writing | 0 Comments
I’ve been working for some time on a book called Surviving Complexity. Many of my posts over at brucefwebster.com have adapted from materials I’m writing for that book.
Well, now I’ve been hired by Ziff Davis Enterprises to write a weekly column on IT Management for the online version of Baseline. That column is [...]