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Death March: The Complete Software Developer's Guide to Surviving 'Mission Impossible' Projects (Yourdon Computing Series)

Death March: The Complete Software Developer's Guide to Surviving 'Mission Impossible' Projects (Yourdon Computing Series)

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Avoid the Death March
Review: Its funny reading the reviews which are posted here, esp. the one which says its a tad outdated. As if such reading was a fad. "Dont read The Mythical Man Month. Its old and hence no longer true!". Obviously these people have never been in big projects which have suffered from budget, schedule and/or resource deficiency.

Although I concede this book does not give how-to-fix-it solutions, it covers in good detail how to recognise Death March projects and DO SOMETHING about them. This is not a book for juvenile programmers, but for project managers struggling to make their projects complete on time, within budget and with desired quality and who have experienced their projects slip schedules by several months, one-day-at-a-time.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This is a bad book
Review: This is a bad book. Do not waste your time reading it

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Waste of Time.
Review: This is no guide at all and I wonder if this book was a death march project for Mr. Yourdon (considering it's poor quality). A much better book is _Rapid_Development_ which covers everything in _Death_March_ and much more. I learned nothing from reading this book. It's also a tad outdated (written in 1996 and reprinted in 1999).

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: SAY NO TO THE DEATH MARCH - TAKE THE BUS!
Review: I was very impressed by Yourdan's commentary on software projects.

However, the simplest strategies to avoid a death march were not discussed.

This is why I must give this book a low rating.

These are strategies which I find always work:

#1 Find a fall guy to blame - junior staff work well.

#2 Get promoted so your're not around

#3 Obtain a transfer so you're out of there.

#4 Legally change your name so you can deny emails (Like Bill Gates - 'I am Melindabill' )

#5 Make committments but never sign or acknowledge memoranda

#6 Blame the vendor

#7 Blame it on the use of the chinese calendar

#8 Plan a cover-up that makes Watergate look like a picnic

#9 Hire a consultant and give them the stuff which makes your project impossible

#10 Take lots of sick leave ONLY after you start wearing your Star Trek uniform with an aluminum hat stuttering 'I am a programmer Jim-not a doctor!'.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: EARTH MARCH
Review: I liked this book very much.

It demonstrates that every one can help save the earth!.

The part about mulching shows that every one can help create earth especially in march.

I highly recommend this book to any gardener.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A morale booster for any victim of Death March hubris
Review: Not really an academic analysis about the roots of the project hubris problem, but for those who are victims of it, a morale booster (= it probably is not your fault). As an alternative, Dilbert is more fun to read and describes the same reality but does not have the guru status of Mr. Yourdon.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A Dreadful Book -- Avoid It
Review: This books advice is typical of the comments I have heard from software people for the last 20 years. This sort of advice is also one of the reasons that software has death march projects and engineering disciplines do not. Engineering disciplines have developed mehtodologis which allow them work in a disciplined fashion to acheive realistic goals. It seems to be only in software that the irresponsible attitudes promtoed by this book prevail. It is because of these attitudes that it is nearly impossible to realistically size a software project. The attitude that discipline is a detriment to results rather than an enabler. Imangine a book that adivises a team leader to hide the truth of a project from the managemtn that is paying for it. Imagine a book that heaps contempt on fellow workers who do not share the juvenile ethos espoused by this book.

This is a dreadful book. It is a book which if uts advice is followed will foster death march projects not avoide them. This is a dreadful book. I am sorry that I was required by the conventions of this web page to give it one star. This seems to imply that there is at leat some merit in the book. There isn't any.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An extremely accurate description of absurd projects
Review: As one of the veterans described in Yourdon's book, I recognize almost everything he describes so very accurately. For the people that have never been in the situation of project manager of a death march project, some of Yourdon's statement may be absurd, but to the ones that had the experiences there is no exaggeration. However, the explanation of the views that senior management take on death march projects was an eye-opener to me and will help me in future death march projects. Anybody who will be involved in death march projects must simply read this book!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Forewarned is forearmed.
Review: After twenty-five years of project management, I recognize Yourdon's proclaimation as a welcome gasp of air. Ever-more complex and unreliable technologies combine with mis-guided management promises to make the Death March project the norm. While strategies for correcting the situation, such as abandoning methodology, are disconcerting, i am fortunate to be working in a data base that lends itself to prototyping (D3 or New PICK). After Ed's book it is no longer a surprise to see what began as a death march project ending up as a first version. The "only a prototype" perspective is, in most cases, an acceptable alternative to public failure, and in keeping with the Wozniak postulate of engineering: "Build It, then Build It Again" (the Apple "II"). The only prerequisite for early announcement of the prototype approach is forewarning. This book provides it, with gentle humor and vast credibility. The advantages that Yourdon's Structured Analysis and Design gave us at the beginning, this book gives us at the point of no return. A "Must Read" book for every potential victim surrendering his or her self-esteem and irretrievable years of careet to the current epidemic of short-term-interest management.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Common sense perspective from a seasoned software pro.
Review: My initial reaction to this book was that it validated my belief that everyone is out of control with their approaches to software development. Mr. Yourdon offers a breadth of experience unparalleled in the industry. If we could all take just a little bit of his experience and apply it, we would certainly be better off. This book should be taken seriously by all IT professionals because it addresses the reality that we all have encountered, or ultimately will encounter.

No silver bullets here, just some hard core facts that will help you survive a normal project.


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