Eight Rules for Effective Software Production

Timofey Nevolin wrote an excellent article “Eight Rules for Effective Software Production” over at Toptal.com.  The whole thing is well worth a read, but here are the 8 rules to get you started:

  1. Understand the IT Mentality
  2. Do Not Mix Software Production and Development Methodologies
  3. Use Persistent Storage as an Extension to Human Memory
  4. Stop Wasting Time on Formal Time Estimation
  5. Understand the Cost of Switching Tasks and Juggling Priorities
  6. Use Architecture Reviews as a Way to Improve System Design
  7. Value Team Players
  8. Focus on Teamwork Organization

All of these are good and true, but if I had to pick one, I’d say that rule 4 is my personal favorite.  Sometimes I feel like I’ve spent a good quarter of my life in meetings, discussions, and other estimation sessions.  And looking back at all of them, I have to honestly say that they all of them were a waste of time.  The only useful part of an estimation session is a high-level project plan, but that can be achieved with a project planning session – much narrower goal, much more measurable, and much easier to achieve.

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