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No Silver Bullet: Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering (1987)
| Venue: | IEEE Computer |
| Citations: | 801 - 0 self |
BibTeX
@ARTICLE{Brooks87nosilver,
author = {Frederick P. Brooks},
title = {No Silver Bullet: Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering},
journal = {IEEE Computer},
year = {1987},
volume = {20},
pages = {10--19}
}
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Abstract
Of all the monsters that fill the nightmares of our folklore, none terrify more than werewolves, because they transform unexpectedly from the familiar into horrors. For these, one seeks bullets of silver that can magically lay them to rest. The familiar software project, at least as seen by the nontechnical manager, has something of this character; it is usually innocent and straightforward, but is capable of becoming a monster of missed schedules, blown budgets, and flawed products. So we hear desperate cries for a silver bullet--something to make software costs drop as rapidly as computer hardware costs do. But, as we look to the horizon of a decade hence, we see no silver bullet. There is no single development, in either technology or in management technique, that by itself promises even one order-of-magnitude improvement in productivity, in reliability, in simplicity. In this article, I shall try to show why, by examining both the nature of the software problem and the properties of the bullets proposed. Skepticism is not pessimism, however. Although we see no startling breakthroughs--and indeed, I believe such to be inconsistent with the nature of software--many encouraging
Keyphrases
silver bullet software engineering seek bullet missed schedule computer hardware cost software many encouraging single development decade hence software problem management technique nontechnical manager order-of-magnitude improvement silver bullet something familiar software project desperate cry software cost drop
