The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition

By: Frederick P. Brooks Jr.

Narrated by: Michael Rutland

Few books on software project management have been as influential and timeless as The Mythical Man-Month. With a blend of software engineering facts and thought-provoking opinions, Fred Brooks offers insight for anyone managing complex projects. These essays draw from his experience as project manager for the IBM System/360 computer family and then for OS/360, its massive software system. Now, 20 years after the initial publication of his book, Brooks has revisited his original ideas and added new thoughts and advice, both for listeners already familiar with his work and for listeners discovering it for the first time.

The added chapters contain (1) a crisp condensation of all the propositions asserted in the original book, including Brooks' central argument in The Mythical Man-Month: that large programming projects suffer management problems different from small ones due to the division of labor; that the conceptual integrity of the product is therefore critical; and that it is difficult but possible to achieve this unity; (2) Brooks' view of these propositions a generation later; (3) a reprint of his classic 1986 paper "No Silver Bullet"; and (4) today's thoughts on the 1986 assertion, "There will be no silver bullet within ten years."

©1996 Pearson Education, Inc. (P)2024 Pearson Education, Inc.

OK, but this classic deserved better treatment

If, like me, you've read this classic before and just want an easy way to re-read it on the go, this audiobook is fine. It's not an inspired performance, but it's serviceable enough. (In a few places, first-time readers might prefer the written version, since there are some diagrams and code excerpts.) The continual mispronunciation of "PL/I" as "pee-el-eye" was annoying, though, and a sure sign that the narrator didn't understand what they were reading.

Difficult to listen

I'm not sure what was used to record this, but the recording was not made on professional equipment or facility. Tough to stick with the audio book

Classic: still true today after 50 years

This book is still relevant after 50 years of original publishing. It points out the lack of art in the software development industry, even after all these years. A must read. It is packed with tons of principles that are extremely useful in today’s context.

A dated classic that is hard to get through

I really wanted to like this audiobook because this book is considered a classic in Software Engineering, but I found it a real chore to listen to and get through.

I think the book is narrated fairly well but I think the book doesn't translate to an audiobook well or the layout of the book doesn't really work.

There is a large chunk of the book with fairly dated ideas on Software Engineering followed by a section near the end which tells you what's changed in the authors opinion in 1996 which is still dated. you get to hear really old Software Engineering essays followed by slightly newer but still old ideas.

There are some good parts to the book such as No Silver Bullet, but there are others such as the idea of programming surgical teams which really fall flat given modern practices.

An industry classic

This book is an IT industry classic, and for good reason. It presents a fascinating and well-thought-out selection of essays on the IT world, and particularly development.

It's true, some of the essays hold up better than others at this point, and there are a couple of them where modern advances in technology and practices have left them of no practical value, and just a historical curiosity. However, there are still a wide range of valuable insights and observations that are every bit as applicable today as they were when it was written.

For younger readers, or those without much grounding in computer history, there are some anecdotes and references in this book that may be a little hard to follow and may feel like they come from the metaphorical Stone Age. Personally, I found that a little fascinating to listen to, and it reminded me of just how incredibly far technology has progressed in a relatively short period of time.

One minor annoyance with the narration results from the fact that the narrator obviously doesn't come from a technology background, and thus mispronounced a number of common computer terms and acronyms. Not the end of the world, but definitely a little annoying.

In the end, I very strongly recommend this book to anyone in IT who enjoys computer history. I recommend it with reservations for anyone in else's in IT.