Original artwork, not a still
Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is the cruel arithmetic every software team learns once: a late project feels like it needs more hands, but new hands must first be taught by the people already behind schedule, and every extra person adds conversations to keep in step. Named Brooks's law, it is cited in project post-mortems, including press coverage of the troubled 2013 US healthcare website launch.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The Mythical Man-MonthShow the scene
Brooks's line is the central claim of The Mythical Man-Month, the 1975 collection of essays on software engineering by Frederick P. Brooks Jr., who had managed development of IBM's OS/360. The book argues that the 'man-month' as a unit of work is a myth, because programming tasks cannot be divided freely. Brooks drew on his own mistake at IBM, where he added programmers to a project falling behind and later concluded that this had delayed it further. His reasoning: newcomers must be taught, and communication overhead grows with headcount. A 1995 edition added commentary by the author.
Sources (2)
- Wikipedia: The Mythical Man-MonthIdeas presentedReference checked
- Wikipedia: Brooks's lawLeadReference checked
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