“The metaprogrammer who uses one, or especially several, applications as components in a larger system. This is the user whose needs are… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Copy Share Image
“The big change has been in the hardware/software cost ratio. The buyer of a $2-million machine in 1960 felt that he could… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Change Copy Share Image
“The job done least well by project managers is to utilize the technical genius who is not strong on management talent.” — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Intelligence Copy Share Image
“I have long enjoyed asking candidate programmers, "Where is next November?" If the question is too cryptic, then, "Tell me about your… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Programming Copy Share Image
“Reducing the role conflict. The boss must first distinguish between action information and status information. He must discipline himself not to act… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Management Copy Share Image
“Lehman and Belady have studied the history of successive releases in a large operating system.[6] They find that the total number of… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr History Copy Share Image
“Because ease of use is the purpose, this ratio of function to conceptual complexity is the ultimate test of system design. Neither… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Operating system Copy Share Image
“...give a great deal of attention to keeping his managers and his technical people as interchangeable as their talents allow. The barriers… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Definitive Copy Share Image
“The computer has brought a similar fluidity to many other media: artistic drawings, building plans, mechanical drawings, musical compositions, photographs, video sequences,… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Art Copy Share Image
“As time passes, the system becomes less and less well-ordered. Sooner or later the fixing cease to gain any ground. Each forward… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Sooner or later Copy Share Image
“Finally, a manager's documents give him a data base and checklist. By reviewing them periodically he sees where he is, and he… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Management Copy Share Image
“Indeed, the cost-performance ratio of the product will depend most heavily on the implementer, just as ease of use depends most heavily… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Copy Share Image
“Hustle provides the cushion, the reserve capacity, that enables a team to cope with routine mishaps, to anticipate and forfend minor calamities.… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Copy Share Image
“I do not believe we will find the magic here. Program verification is a very powerful concept, and it will be very… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Operating system Copy Share Image
“By the architecture of a system, I mean the complete and detailed specification of the user interface. For a computer this is… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Architecture Copy Share Image
“The management question, therefore, is not whether to build a pilot system and throw it away. You will do that. The only… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Management Copy Share Image
“Any product that is sufficiently big or urgent to require the effort of many minds thus encounters a peculiar difficulty: the result… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Adversity Copy Share Image
“I believe the hard part of building software to be the specification, design, and testing of this conceptual construct, not the labor… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Programming Copy Share Image
“Fifth, when schedule slippage is recognized, the natural (and traditional) response is to add manpower. Like dousing a fire with gasoline, this… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Fire Copy Share Image
“Why Have Formal Documents? First, writing the decisions down is essential. Only when one writes do the gaps appear and the inconsistencies… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Writing Copy Share Image
“The programmed computer has all the fascination of the pinball machine or the jukebox mechanism, carried to the ultimate. Fourth” — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Computers Copy Share Image
“For the human makers of things, the incompletenesses and inconsistencies of our ideas become clear only during implementation. Thus it is that… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Copy Share Image
“Finally, there is the delight of working in such a tractable medium. The programmer, like the poet, works only slightly removed from… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Poetry Copy Share Image
“Even at a cost of $100,000, a purchased piece of software is costing only about as much as one programmer-year. And delivery… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Productivity Copy Share Image
“First, one must perform perfectly. The computer resembles the magic of legend in this respect, too. If one character, one pause, of… — Frederick P. Brooks Jr Computers Copy Share Image
