Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering (Agile Software Development)

This book covers all the mistakes we know about, but keep on making regardless.When it arrived in the mail, I was amazed by how small this book was. It's a short read, but every section is brilliantly distilled to the bare essentials.I've worked on several different teams developing software. There was very little in this book that came as a surprise. Every point seemed obvious, though in many cases, I was amazed by the wealth of research that Glass was able to cite to make his points. From the bankruptcy of hypesters to the importance of a work environment, Glass states the obvious with compelling and refreshing clarity.The "painful" part was realizing that at some point in my career, I've made almost every mistake he highlights.I found the tongue in cheek nature of the writing to be a bit much at times. That is my only complaint, and it's not so bad as to be unreadable.It probably won't make you a better programmer, but the knowledge in this book will provide magnificent insight into all the non-coding aspects of software development that we so often overlook. Human nature hasn't changed, and software will always be complex. The facts and fallacies he cites truly are fundamental, and will be with us forever.This book has given me a vocabulary with which to confront the absurd that we see every day in the world of software. Hopefully, I can now be a part of the solution rather than a part of the problem. Thank you, Dr. Glass!

This book gets 4 stars for being pleasant to read, well-structured, and efficiently impactful. I would have liked to see more studies supporting the facts and fallacies. A more accurate title for this book might be “55 Opinions and Fallacies Which are Probably Mostly Supported by Evidence”. Since Glass has a ton of industry experience, academic experience, and he’s written 25+ books it’s probably safe to accept his opinions for facts. He is very aware that some facts and fallacies will be controversial and addresses those dissenting opinions. The book also feels a little naive at times as it seems to argue that a lot of problems in software engineering are the result of management just not understanding engineering. I agree management could benefit by being more understanding of engineers, but it goes both ways and I think engineers need to be much more understanding of the realities of running a business. The number one takeaway from this book is how valuable it is to be able to bridge the gap between engineering and management. If you are able to do that, and do it well, you will be extremely impactful in an organization.Pleasant to ReadGlass’s personality comes through in his writing which makes the book feel less academic and more fun to read (he is known as the “premier curmudgeon” of software practice). The writing is informal, but gets right to the point. Also, the book is succinct and moves along pretty quickly – each fact or fallacy only covers a couple of pages.Well-StructuredThink of this book more like a table of contents. Each fact or fallacy is quickly summarized with a discussion and controversy. Then Glass provides references and sources if you want to look further. A lot of the sources are his own books. A lot of the sources are well-regarded books like the Mythical Man Month, Peopleware, and Refactoring.Efficiently ImpactfulThis book gets right to the point which means you can read it fast, and still get a lot out of it. I found myself agreeing with most of the facts and fallacies, disagreeing with a few, and being surprised by a few new ideas. I learned the most from the sections about estimation and maintenance. I also loved his opinion that we should teach new programmers to program by having them read programs (not write them).More Opinion than FactA lot of the so-called “facts” feel more like opinions. But they are probably right, so it doesn’t matter much. Regardless, it would be nice to see more studies backing up the facts. For example, the fact that “For every 25 percent increase in problem complexity, there is a 100 percent increase in solution complexity” is a pretty extraordinary claim. It seems like it’s probably true-ish, but it seems too clean-cut to be true. How can this be true in every setting? Another one is “Enhancements represent roughly 60 percent of maintenance costs.” Is this really true? And how many studies have replicated these results? You’d need to go and do the due diligence to be sure.ConclusionOverall, I highly recommend this book for software engineers and managers of software engineers. It is a quick read and will have an immediate pay-off. If you learn one thing from this book it is the importance of being able to explain to management why things should be done a certain way. If you can explain the why and explain it well you will have happy managers and happy engineers.

A wonderful collection of facts and fallacies about software engineering. The references for each topic are outstanding, in fact, some of the topics piqued enough interest for me to order several of those books. The areas I found most interesting whether I agreed or disagreed were: software reuse, code review effectiveness, thoughts on new methodologies, and statistics on maintenance.This book is easy to read and the content flows well from topic to topic. I highly recommend it for the richness of the references and for making one think about the different aspects of software engineering that are often overlooked.

I actually agree with most of what this book says. I also like the references, which are for the most part to other books I like.This book is little more than a list of bullet points. Most of the writing doesn't say anything other than to reiterate the title and then claim that lots of folks just don't get it.What's missing are case studies, or even arguments as to why the points the book makes are even worth thinking about.I would recommend reading The Pragmatic Programmer by Hunt and Thomas instead.

Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering is a strong read presented in an organized, concise manner that only a software engineering practitioner can do. Here you may learn a few things, or you may find yourself thinking "I knew that... I just forgot!" The author brings many years of experience to bear to discuss software engineering practices, quality, software management, and more. An excellent read.

I bought this book based on a recommendation from a co-worker. I have not been disappointed. It is an easy read but it also makes you think.This will not be for everyone because his opinions are somewhat unique at times. However, it really helps any engineer consider what we do and how we do it.I am happy I read it and will read it again.