The Problem With Software: Why Smart Engineers Write Bad Code (The MIT Press)

Lehman and Belady offer evidence that quanta should be very large and widely spaced or else very small and frequent.[14] The latter strategy is more subject to instability, according to their model. My experience confirms it: I would never risk that strategy in practice.

In most computer projects there comes a day when it is discovered that the machine and the manual don't agree. When the confrontation follows, the manual usually loses, for it can be changed far more quickly and cheaply than the machine.

The dilemma is a cruel one. For efficiency and conceptual integrity, one prefers a few good minds doing design and construction. Yet for large systems one wants a way to bring considerable manpower to bear, so that the product can make a timely appearance. How can these two needs be reconciled? Mills's Proposal A proposal by Harlan Mills offers a f