Saying you can speed up software development by hiring more developers is like saying you can get planes to fly faster by adding more pilots.
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That's interesting. I can think of a lot of tasks that take a long time, like building a house or writing a book, that do go faster if you have more people working on them.
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The secret there is decomposition (make smaller tasks) and coordination (no wasted effort).
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Those are both possible with making software; at least, software of a certain size. I think that tasks at the class or function level are harder to break down.
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It's interesting to think about why flying a plane isn't like that.
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Anyway, I think there may be an upper limit on hiring for a project, where there are tasks that just can't be decomposed. But I think there are plenty of projects where hiring more people makes things go faster.
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Replying to @evanpro
Yeah I think there's some point where hiring more does make the team more productive (from 1 to 2 people for example), but much beyond that I think there are diminishing returns. Hiring people with skills other than development is a whole different story tho.

Apr 22, 2019 · 11:05 PM UTC

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Replying to @aaronpk @evanpro
"Diminishing returns" is different from "negative or zero returns". The issue in Mythical Man Month is around bootstrap time and communication overhead.
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