1. The concepts in The Mythical Man-Month are based on Frederick Brooks' experiences on what operating system? Was it completed on time? What year did he leave IBM and move to North Carolina? According to Brooks, what is the "critical need" when you manage a large software systems project? (Note: Computer Sci bldg at UNC-Chapel Hill has been named after him.)
2. Compare "programming product" vs. "programming system."
3. Why is "man-month" or the time workers spend deceptive, even dangerous when predicting how long it will take on what kind of project? What does communication have to do with the deception?
4. Describe by fully defining and illustrating Brook's Law.
5. List the members of a 10-man programming team built on the surgical model and describe their tasks.
6. How does Brooks define the "architecture" of a system? What is "conceptual integrity?" How does "conceptual integrity" necessarily make one group "aristocrats" (or is that "artistcrats" -tip)?
7. Define the three phases of a project according to Brooks and what "working in parallel" means as it effects a project.
8. What is the "second system effect," and how can an architect avoid it?
9. Define THREE of the following as used in the textbook: manual, formal definition, prose definition, implementation definition, de facto definition.
10. In the 21st century, do suggestions by Brooks about weekly team conferences and telephone logs still apply? How can the web and telecommunications be applied to support or enhance both? How has "Agile method" impacted communications?