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The software is way too complex to gauge how long something will take. It’s also extremely risky to make a mistake in production. Projects slated for three mont
by greatpostman 4y ago
The software is way too complex to gauge how long something will take. It’s also extremely risky to make a mistake in production. Projects slated for three months can take two years.
If you’re engineers are constantly hitting deadlines, probably it’s greenfield development or the problem space is simple
- bumby 4y agoI agree. But if we don't manage it well at scale, that underscores that we don't really understand the complexity of the problem. Can you call someone a "top performer" when they don't understand the complexity of the problem? We can write complex code with minimal errors[1]. "the last three versions of the program — each 420,000 lines long-had just one error each. The last 11 versions of this software had a total of 17 errors. Commercial programs of equivalent complexity would have 5,000 errors." But I worry when we facilely normalize sub-optimal behavior because we've normalized it. Especially as FAANG and adjacent companies work on safety-critical software and when that attitude pervades other domains. [1] https://www.fastcompany.com/28121/they-write-right-stuff https://www.fastcompany.com/28121/they-write-right-stuff