No Silver Bullet

Comments primarily reference Fred Brooks' 'No Silver Bullet' essay and 'The Mythical Man-Month' book, recommending these classics for insights on software engineering productivity, project management, and the absence of magic solutions.

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bullet.pdf toronto.edu joelonsoftware.com parable.html CACM amturing.acm EWD103 www.cs GP iverson.pdf brooks mythical fred silver man silver bullet month software bullet software engineering

Sample Comments

chomp Nov 17, 2018 View on HN

Very famous paper, one of my favorites - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Silver_Bullet

odyssey7 Apr 15, 2023 View on HN

The opening sentence is a reference to the influential software engineering paper No Silver Bullet, and the overall post is aligned with it.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Silver_Bullet

Doctor-R Jul 18, 2024 View on HN

The Mythical Man Month by Frederick Brooks. The examples are old, but the wisdom remains. Particularly the chapter (and CACM article) No Silver Bullet-- Essence and Accident in Software Engineering (1986).Or just: https://xkcd.com/1425/

SideburnsOfDoom Jun 30, 2024 View on HN

The relevant context, is the essay, "No Silver Bullet—Essence and Accident in Software Engineering" - Fred Brooks, 1986.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Silver_BulletSee also "The Mythical Man-Month" by the same author.Mr Cooper's point is that these same arguments still apply, and we would do well to revisit them at source.

southerndrift Jun 16, 2019 View on HN

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month

stef-13013 Jul 29, 2020 View on HN

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month

a3n Mar 16, 2016 View on HN

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month

e19293001 Jul 26, 2018 View on HN

Sounds like The Parable of the Two Programmers.http://www.bruceblinn.com/parable.html

itsdrewmiller Apr 25, 2022 View on HN

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month is a classic for a reason, on this exact topic.

krsna Jul 17, 2021 View on HN

Link to the Joel On Software article you're referencing?