All Fred Brooks Quotes
- How does a project get to be a year behind schedule? One day at a time. Behind
- Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later Adding
- The boss must first distinguish between action information and status information. He must discipline himself not to act on problems his managers can solve, and… Act
- Even the best planning is not so omniscient as to get it right the first time. Best
- Plan to throw one (implementation) away; you will, anyhow. Implementation
- Conceptual integrity is the most important consideration in system design. Conceptual
- A little retrospection shows that although many fine, useful software systems have been designed by committees and built as part of multipart projects, those software… Been
- The fundamental problem with program maintenance is that fixing a defect has a substantial (20-50 percent) chance of introducing another. So the whole process is… Bugs
- The programmer, like the poet, works only slightly removed from pure thought-stuff. He builds his castles in the air, from air, creating by exertion of… Air
- A basic principle of data processing teaches the folly of trying to maintain independent files in synchonism. Basic
- Adjusting to the requirement for perfection is, I think, the most difficult part of learning to program. Adjusting
- Systematically identity top designers as early as possible. The best are often not the most experienced. Best
- There is no single development, in either technology or management technique, which by itself promises even one order-of-magnitude improvement within a decade in productivity, in… Decade
- The management question, therefore, is not whether to build a pilot system and throw it away. You will do that. Hence plan to throw one… Build
- It is very difficult to make a vigorous, plausible, and job-risking defense of an estimate that is derived by no quantitative method, supported by little… Certified
- Show me your flowcharts and conceal your tables, and I shall continue to be mystified. Show me your tables, and I won't usually need your… Conceal
- Scientists build to learn; Engineers learn to build. Build
- The hardest part of the software task is arriving at a complete and consistent specification, and much of the essence of building a program is… Arriving
- Successful software always gets changed. Always Gets
- Nine people can't make a baby in a month. Baby