By bfwebster on May 14, 2008 in Books, Development, Main, Methodology, PMSE, Pitfalls, Politics, Technology | 0 Comments
[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)] Categories: political There is an oft-cited dictum in technology development groups: “It is easier to ask forgiveness than permission.” It is often true and sometimes crucial to circumvent bureaucratic foot-dragging and politics. But it is not always the best course, and the danger of [...]
By bfwebster on Apr 27, 2008 in Books, Development, Main, Management, PMSE, Pitfalls | 0 Comments
[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)] Categories: managerial It is a sad truism that upper management typically asks just two questions about a software development effort: “Why isn’t someone coding yet?” (known as the ‘WISCY’ question) and “When will the program ship?” These are not bad questions per se, but [...]
By bfwebster on Apr 26, 2008 in Books, Development, Main, Methodology, PMSE, Pitfalls, Politics, Technology | 0 Comments
[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)] Categories: conceptual, political Native tribes in the South Pacific developed “cargo cults” during the middle part of the 20th century. Having observed planes (such as the venerable DC-3) landing on their islands and discharging goods from inside, these tribes created simacrula of the planes [...]
By bfwebster on Apr 17, 2008 in Development, Main, PMSE, Pitfalls, Politics, Software engineering | 0 Comments
[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)] CATEGORIES: political You know the drill. By hook or crook, through long weeks and late hours and ruthless compromising, you finally deliver the project. It’s finished, it’s out the door, and you have taken a few weeks to remind yourself what real life is [...]
By bfwebster on Apr 3, 2008 in Books, Development, Main, PMSE, Pitfalls | 0 Comments
[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)] CATEGORIES: conceptual, managerial Make no mistake: modern software development techniques and methodologies, combined with powerful user-interface classes and software development tools, can greatly speed application development. However, they also allow application prototypes to be put together and demonstrated very quickly. This is great for [...]