The Mythical Man-Month Chapters 3, 7 and 11

1.      Harlan Mills proposes that a team should be organized as a surgical team not a hog butchering team. What should be the main difference by his proposal? Name three roles in a surgical team. What are the roles of the producer and the technical director in a large programming project?  What would be the main problem if the producer and the technical director were the same person? Changes after the delivery of a software system are called program maintenance. How is program maintenance different than hardware maintenance? What is the most fundamental problem with program maintenance?

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6.      Assuming that the throw-away system works, is it a good idea to deliver it to customers to buy more time to work on the main system? Why or why not?

7.       Brooks proposes three different methods for communication of teams. What are those methods?

8.       What would the main problem be if the producer were the boss and the technical director were his/her right-hand person?

9.       Why does program maintenance (changes after the delivery of software) often result in “two steps forward and one step back”?

10.   What is “regression testing”?