Few books in computing have had as profound an influence on software management as Peopleware . The unique insight of this longtime best seller is that the major issues of software development are human, not technical. Theyre not easy issues; but solve them, and youll maximize your chances of success. Peopleware has long been one of my two favorite books on software engineering. Its underlying strength is its base of immense real experience, much of it quantified. Many, many varied projects have been reflected on and distilled; but what we are given is not just lifeless distillate, but vivid examples from which we share the authors inductions. Their premise is right: most software project problems are sociological, not technological. The insights on team jelling and work environment have changed my thinking and teaching. The third edition adds strength to strength. Frederick P. Brooks, Jr., Kenan Professor of Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Author of The Mythical Man-Month and The Design of Design Peopleware is the one book that everyone who runs a software team needs to read and reread once a year. In the quarter century since the first edition appeared, it has become more important, not less, to think about the social and human issues in software development. This is the only way were going to make more humane, productive workplaces. Buy it, read it, and keep a stock on hand in the office supply closet. Joel Spolsky, Co-founder, Stack Overflow When a book about a field as volatile as software design and use extends to a third edition, you can be sure that the authors write of deep principle, of the fundamental causes for what we readers experience, and not of the surface that everyone recognizes. And to bring people, actual human beings, into the mix! How excellent. How rare. The authors have made this third edition, with its additions, entirely terrific. Lee Devin and Rob Austin, Co-authors of The Soul of Design and Artful Making For this third edition, the authors have added six new chapters and updated the text throughout, bringing it in line with todays development environments and challenges. For example, the book now discusses pathologies of leadership that hadnt previously been judged to be pathological; an evolving culture of meetings; hybrid teams made up of people from seemingly incompatible generations; and a growing awareness that some of our most common tools are more like anchors than propellers. Anyone who needs to manage a software project or software organization will find invaluable advice throughout the book.
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- Matsubara P, Steinmacher I, Gadelha B and Conte T (2023). Much more than a prediction: Expert-based software effort estimation as a behavioral act, Empirical Software Engineering, 28:4, Online publication date: 1-Jul-2023.
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- Kalliamvakou E, Bird C, Zimmermann T, Begel A, DeLine R and German D (2019). What Makes a Great Manager of Software Engineers?, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 45:1, (87-106), Online publication date: 1-Jan-2019.
- Tejera-Hernández D, Ciudad-Ricardo F and Libotton A Participation in software projects as professional communities of practice Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality, (1032-1039)
- Romano S, Scanniello G, Fucci D, Juristo N and Turhan B The effect of noise on software engineers' performance Proceedings of the 12th ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement, (1-10)
- Clear T (2018). The arbitrary nature of computing curricula, XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students, 25:1, (56-59), Online publication date: 1-Oct-2018.
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- Romano S, Scanniello G, Fucci D, Juristo N and Turhan B The effect of noise on requirements comprehension Proceedings of the 40th International Conference on Software Engineering: Companion Proceeedings, (308-309)
- Anu V, Walia G, Hu W, Carver J and Bradshaw G Issues and opportunities for human error-based requirements inspections Proceedings of the 11th ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement, (460-465)
- Meyer A, Zimmermann T and Fritz T Characterizing software developers by perceptions of productivity Proceedings of the 11th ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement, (105-110)
- Garca F, Pedreira O, Piattini M, Cerdeira-Pena A and Penabad M (2017). A framework for gamification in software engineering, Journal of Systems and Software, 132:C, (21-40), Online publication date: 1-Oct-2017.
- Tregubov A, Boehm B, Rodchenko N and Lane J Impact of task switching and work interruptions on software development processes Proceedings of the 2017 International Conference on Software and System Process, (134-138)
- Greene G and Fischer B CVExplorer: identifying candidate developers by mining and exploring their open source contributions Proceedings of the 31st IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering, (804-809)
- Kärpänoja P, Virtanen A, Lehtonen T and Mikkonen T Exploring Peopleware in Continuous Delivery Proceedings of the Scientific Workshop Proceedings of XP2016, (1-5)
- Ehlers J Socialness in the recruiting of software engineers Proceedings of the 12th ACM International Conference on Computing Frontiers, (1-5)
Index Terms
- Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (3rd Edition)
Recommendations
Celebrating Peopleware's 20th Anniversary
The 2007 International Conference on Software Engineering celebrated the 20th anniversary of the publication of Peopleware with a panel session featuring Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister (the book's authors) and Barry Boehm, Fred Brooks, Linda Rising, and Ed ...