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  3. Estimating software like omelettes

Estimating software like omelettes

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  • D dandy72

    ...and if you rush the chicken to produce eggs quicker, you'll end up with a burnt out chicken before long. I'm sure plenty more valid analogies can be added. C'mon CP, don't let me down...

    R Offline
    R Offline
    raddevus
    wrote on last edited by
    #7

    dandy72 wrote:

    I'm sure plenty more valid analogies can be added. C'mon CP, don't let me down..

    PHB Wisdom:

    If the chicken has already crossed the road, then you no longer have to implement Agile.

    G 1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • D dandy72

      ...and if you rush the chicken to produce eggs quicker, you'll end up with a burnt out chicken before long. I'm sure plenty more valid analogies can be added. C'mon CP, don't let me down...

      OriginalGriffO Offline
      OriginalGriffO Offline
      OriginalGriff
      wrote on last edited by
      #8

      A bug in the hand in worth two in the SQL.

      Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640 Never throw anything away, Griff Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

      "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
      "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

      R G 2 Replies Last reply
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      • R raddevus

        Reading thru The Mythical Man Month and there are quite a few interesting items.

        The Mythical Man-Month, Anniversary Edition: Essays On Software Engineering 2, Frederick P. Brooks Jr., eBook - Amazon.com[^]

        Gutless Estimating Observe that for the programmer, as for the chef, the urgency of the patron may govern the scheduled completion of the task, but it cannot govern the actual completion. An omelette, promised in two minutes, may appear to be progressing nicely. But when it has not set in two minutes, the customer has two choices --- wait or eat it raw. Software customers have had the same choices. The cook has another choice; he can turn up the heat. The result is often an omelette nothing can save --— burned in one part, raw in another. Now I do not think software managers have less inherent courage and firmness than chefs, nor than other engineering managers. But false scheduling to match the patron's desired date is much more common in our discipline than elsewhere in engineering. It is very difficult to make a vigorous, plausible, and job-risking defense of an estimate that is derived by no quantitative method, supported by little data, and certified chiefly by the hunches of the managers. Clearly two solutions are needed. We need to develop and publicize productivity figures, bug-incidence figures, estimating rules, and so on. The whole profession can only profit from sharing such data. Until estimating is on a sounder basis, individual managers will need to stiffen their backbones and defend their estimates with the assurance that their poor hunches are better than wish-derived estimates.

        I'm pretty sure that estimating hasn't changed at all since t

        R Offline
        R Offline
        Ravi Bhavnani
        wrote on last edited by
        #9

        raddevus wrote:

        since this was originally written (1982 or so).

        Try 1975. :) /ravi

        My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

        R 1 Reply Last reply
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        • R Ravi Bhavnani

          raddevus wrote:

          since this was originally written (1982 or so).

          Try 1975. :) /ravi

          My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

          R Offline
          R Offline
          raddevus
          wrote on last edited by
          #10

          Ravi Bhavnani wrote:

          Try 1975.

          Yeah, you are correct that the original Mythical Man Month was written in 1975 but I wasn't sure if this was part of the original or the revision (1982) so I guessed the latter so I woudln't make it sound too old. :)

          1 Reply Last reply
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          • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

            A bug in the hand in worth two in the SQL.

            Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640 Never throw anything away, Griff Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

            R Offline
            R Offline
            raddevus
            wrote on last edited by
            #11

            OriginalGriff wrote:

            A bug in the hand in worth two in the SQL.

            I live by these words!! :laugh:

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • R raddevus

              Reading thru The Mythical Man Month and there are quite a few interesting items.

              The Mythical Man-Month, Anniversary Edition: Essays On Software Engineering 2, Frederick P. Brooks Jr., eBook - Amazon.com[^]

              Gutless Estimating Observe that for the programmer, as for the chef, the urgency of the patron may govern the scheduled completion of the task, but it cannot govern the actual completion. An omelette, promised in two minutes, may appear to be progressing nicely. But when it has not set in two minutes, the customer has two choices --- wait or eat it raw. Software customers have had the same choices. The cook has another choice; he can turn up the heat. The result is often an omelette nothing can save --— burned in one part, raw in another. Now I do not think software managers have less inherent courage and firmness than chefs, nor than other engineering managers. But false scheduling to match the patron's desired date is much more common in our discipline than elsewhere in engineering. It is very difficult to make a vigorous, plausible, and job-risking defense of an estimate that is derived by no quantitative method, supported by little data, and certified chiefly by the hunches of the managers. Clearly two solutions are needed. We need to develop and publicize productivity figures, bug-incidence figures, estimating rules, and so on. The whole profession can only profit from sharing such data. Until estimating is on a sounder basis, individual managers will need to stiffen their backbones and defend their estimates with the assurance that their poor hunches are better than wish-derived estimates.

              I'm pretty sure that estimating hasn't changed at all since t

              T Offline
              T Offline
              theoldfool
              wrote on last edited by
              #12

              Same people who figured they could take 9 women and have a baby in one month.

              If you can keep your head while those about you are losing theirs, perhaps you don't understand the situation.

              Sander RosselS T 2 Replies Last reply
              0
              • T theoldfool

                Same people who figured they could take 9 women and have a baby in one month.

                If you can keep your head while those about you are losing theirs, perhaps you don't understand the situation.

                Sander RosselS Offline
                Sander RosselS Offline
                Sander Rossel
                wrote on last edited by
                #13

                If one of those women was already eight months pregnant, and those chances increase if you (randomly) take more women. Or have them steal a baby, at least one out of nine should be successful! If I wanted a baby, and I wanted it as fast as possible, I'd take as many women as I could get and not take any chances :D

                Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

                T R OriginalGriffO 3 Replies Last reply
                0
                • T theoldfool

                  Same people who figured they could take 9 women and have a baby in one month.

                  If you can keep your head while those about you are losing theirs, perhaps you don't understand the situation.

                  T Offline
                  T Offline
                  TheGreatAndPowerfulOz
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #14

                  Well, you can if one of them got pregnant 8 months earlier than you gathered the 9.

                  #SupportHeForShe Government can give you nothing but what it takes from somebody else. A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you've got, including your freedom.-Ezra Taft Benson You must accept 1 of 2 basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not alone. Either way, the implications are staggering!-Wernher von Braun

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                    If one of those women was already eight months pregnant, and those chances increase if you (randomly) take more women. Or have them steal a baby, at least one out of nine should be successful! If I wanted a baby, and I wanted it as fast as possible, I'd take as many women as I could get and not take any chances :D

                    Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

                    T Offline
                    T Offline
                    TheGreatAndPowerfulOz
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #15

                    Damn, beat me to it!

                    #SupportHeForShe Government can give you nothing but what it takes from somebody else. A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you've got, including your freedom.-Ezra Taft Benson You must accept 1 of 2 basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not alone. Either way, the implications are staggering!-Wernher von Braun

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                      If one of those women was already eight months pregnant, and those chances increase if you (randomly) take more women. Or have them steal a baby, at least one out of nine should be successful! If I wanted a baby, and I wanted it as fast as possible, I'd take as many women as I could get and not take any chances :D

                      Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

                      R Offline
                      R Offline
                      raddevus
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #16

                      All of that reasoning is actually another example of how software is in the state it is in now too. :laugh: Lead dev explains to PHB: "No, that's not really possible to build a nuclear submarine entirely from pasta." Less-experienced Dev comes along : "Oh, I can do that in Python for sure!!" :laugh:

                      1 Reply Last reply
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                      • R raddevus

                        dandy72 wrote:

                        I'm sure plenty more valid analogies can be added. C'mon CP, don't let me down..

                        PHB Wisdom:

                        If the chicken has already crossed the road, then you no longer have to implement Agile.

                        G Offline
                        G Offline
                        Gary R Wheeler
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #17

                        raddevus wrote:

                        If the chicken has already crossed the road, then you no longer have to implement Agile.

                        No, no, no - that's not how Agile™ works. The chicken stops every six inches while it walks across the road (these are 'sprints'). It verifies with the stakeholder (aka the farmer) at each point that he's getting what he wants, i.e. the chicken across the road. The farmer can adjust the chicken's route any time he likes. Of course, none of the principals notice the traffic on the road...

                        Software Zen: delete this;

                        R 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • G Gary R Wheeler

                          raddevus wrote:

                          If the chicken has already crossed the road, then you no longer have to implement Agile.

                          No, no, no - that's not how Agile™ works. The chicken stops every six inches while it walks across the road (these are 'sprints'). It verifies with the stakeholder (aka the farmer) at each point that he's getting what he wants, i.e. the chicken across the road. The farmer can adjust the chicken's route any time he likes. Of course, none of the principals notice the traffic on the road...

                          Software Zen: delete this;

                          R Offline
                          R Offline
                          raddevus
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #18

                          Ok, that explains the chicken, but what about the pig? :) The Chicken and the Pig - Wikipedia[^]

                          G 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • R raddevus

                            Ok, that explains the chicken, but what about the pig? :) The Chicken and the Pig - Wikipedia[^]

                            G Offline
                            G Offline
                            Gary R Wheeler
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #19

                            That's easy. Use git for source control so that nobody really understands what a 'commit' does.

                            Software Zen: delete this;

                            R R 2 Replies Last reply
                            0
                            • G Gary R Wheeler

                              That's easy. Use git for source control so that nobody really understands what a 'commit' does.

                              Software Zen: delete this;

                              R Offline
                              R Offline
                              raddevus
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #20

                              Gary R. Wheeler wrote:

                              That's easy. Use git for source control so that nobody really understands what a 'commit' does.

                              Wow! You've obviously ascended into Management! :laugh:

                              G 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • D dandy72

                                ...and if you rush the chicken to produce eggs quicker, you'll end up with a burnt out chicken before long. I'm sure plenty more valid analogies can be added. C'mon CP, don't let me down...

                                pkfoxP Offline
                                pkfoxP Offline
                                pkfox
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #21

                                Animal Farm

                                "We can't stop here - this is bat country" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • D dandy72

                                  ...and if you rush the chicken to produce eggs quicker, you'll end up with a burnt out chicken before long. I'm sure plenty more valid analogies can be added. C'mon CP, don't let me down...

                                  M Offline
                                  M Offline
                                  Marc Clifton
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #22

                                  dandy72 wrote:

                                  and if you rush the chicken to produce eggs quicker, you'll end up with a burnt out chicken before long.

                                  And yet sales keeps telling the customers that the company has a golden goose. ;)

                                  Latest Articles:
                                  Fun Exploring Div and Table UI Layout

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                                    If one of those women was already eight months pregnant, and those chances increase if you (randomly) take more women. Or have them steal a baby, at least one out of nine should be successful! If I wanted a baby, and I wanted it as fast as possible, I'd take as many women as I could get and not take any chances :D

                                    Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

                                    OriginalGriffO Offline
                                    OriginalGriffO Offline
                                    OriginalGriff
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #23

                                    This is exactly why you were banned from Tinder.

                                    Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640 Never throw anything away, Griff Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

                                    "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
                                    "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • R raddevus

                                      Gary R. Wheeler wrote:

                                      That's easy. Use git for source control so that nobody really understands what a 'commit' does.

                                      Wow! You've obviously ascended into Management! :laugh:

                                      G Offline
                                      G Offline
                                      Gary R Wheeler
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #24

                                      Them's fightin' words! Put 'em up! :mad: :laugh:

                                      Software Zen: delete this;

                                      R 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • R raddevus

                                        Reading thru The Mythical Man Month and there are quite a few interesting items.

                                        The Mythical Man-Month, Anniversary Edition: Essays On Software Engineering 2, Frederick P. Brooks Jr., eBook - Amazon.com[^]

                                        Gutless Estimating Observe that for the programmer, as for the chef, the urgency of the patron may govern the scheduled completion of the task, but it cannot govern the actual completion. An omelette, promised in two minutes, may appear to be progressing nicely. But when it has not set in two minutes, the customer has two choices --- wait or eat it raw. Software customers have had the same choices. The cook has another choice; he can turn up the heat. The result is often an omelette nothing can save --— burned in one part, raw in another. Now I do not think software managers have less inherent courage and firmness than chefs, nor than other engineering managers. But false scheduling to match the patron's desired date is much more common in our discipline than elsewhere in engineering. It is very difficult to make a vigorous, plausible, and job-risking defense of an estimate that is derived by no quantitative method, supported by little data, and certified chiefly by the hunches of the managers. Clearly two solutions are needed. We need to develop and publicize productivity figures, bug-incidence figures, estimating rules, and so on. The whole profession can only profit from sharing such data. Until estimating is on a sounder basis, individual managers will need to stiffen their backbones and defend their estimates with the assurance that their poor hunches are better than wish-derived estimates.

                                        I'm pretty sure that estimating hasn't changed at all since t

                                        P Offline
                                        P Offline
                                        PIEBALDconsult
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #25

                                        I keep having to tell my boss he can't schedule the release of work which isn't done yet.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • R raddevus

                                          Reading thru The Mythical Man Month and there are quite a few interesting items.

                                          The Mythical Man-Month, Anniversary Edition: Essays On Software Engineering 2, Frederick P. Brooks Jr., eBook - Amazon.com[^]

                                          Gutless Estimating Observe that for the programmer, as for the chef, the urgency of the patron may govern the scheduled completion of the task, but it cannot govern the actual completion. An omelette, promised in two minutes, may appear to be progressing nicely. But when it has not set in two minutes, the customer has two choices --- wait or eat it raw. Software customers have had the same choices. The cook has another choice; he can turn up the heat. The result is often an omelette nothing can save --— burned in one part, raw in another. Now I do not think software managers have less inherent courage and firmness than chefs, nor than other engineering managers. But false scheduling to match the patron's desired date is much more common in our discipline than elsewhere in engineering. It is very difficult to make a vigorous, plausible, and job-risking defense of an estimate that is derived by no quantitative method, supported by little data, and certified chiefly by the hunches of the managers. Clearly two solutions are needed. We need to develop and publicize productivity figures, bug-incidence figures, estimating rules, and so on. The whole profession can only profit from sharing such data. Until estimating is on a sounder basis, individual managers will need to stiffen their backbones and defend their estimates with the assurance that their poor hunches are better than wish-derived estimates.

                                          I'm pretty sure that estimating hasn't changed at all since t

                                          J Offline
                                          J Offline
                                          Jorgen Andersson
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #26

                                          Third choice, make a smaller omelette. If an omelette isn't ready in thirty seconds you're doing it wrong.

                                          Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

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