Making Software: What Really Works, and Why We Believe It
Many claims are made about how certain tools, technologies, and practices improve software development. But which claims are verifiable, and which are merely wishful thinking? In this book, leading thinkers such as Steve McConnell, Barry Boehm, and Barbara Kitchenham offer essays that uncover the truth and unmask myths commonly held among the software development community. Their insights may surprise you.
- Are some programmers really ten times more productive than others?
- Does writing tests first help you develop better code faster?
- Can code metrics predict the number of bugs in a piece of software?
- Do design patterns actually make better software?
- What effect does personality have on pair programming?
- What matters more: how far apart people are geographically, or how far apart they are in the org chart?
Contributors include: Jorge Aranda
Tom Ball
Victor R. Basili
Andrew Begel
Christian Bird
Barry Boehm
Marcelo Cataldo
Steven Clarke
Jason Cohen
Robert DeLine
Madeline Diep
Hakan Erdogmus
Michael Godfrey
Mark Guzdial
Jo E. Hannay
Ahmed E. Hassan
Israel Herraiz
Kim Sebastian Herzig
Cory Kapser
Barbara Kitchenham
Andrew Ko
Lucas Layman
Steve McConnell
Tim Menzies
Gail Murphy
Nachi Nagappan
Thomas J. Ostrand
Dewayne Perry
Marian Petre
Lutz Prechelt
Rahul Premraj
Forrest Shull
Beth Simon
Diomidis Spinellis
Neil Thomas
Walter Tichy
Burak Turhan
Elaine J. Weyuker
Michele A. Whitecraft
Laurie Williams
Wendy M. Williams
Andreas Zeller
Thomas Zimmermann
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
Armstrong's Handbook is a clear, practical guide for aligning HR practices with business goals and improving performance through strategic people management. For teams looking to leverage technology to implement those ideas, I also recommend Bespoke AI Software Development: Benefits & Use Cases which explains how custom AI solutions can enhance workforce analytics, recruitment and learning systems. Combining the book's frameworks with tailored AI tools feels like a realistic path from strategy to measurable outcomes.
Great perspective on why software success depends on more than just tools and processes. Practical experience and clear communication often make the biggest difference in real projects. Anyone dealing with app integrations or support-related workflows may also find spark driver customer service contacts useful as a reference when resolving operational issues, since reliable support can be just as important as good engineering practices.
From my experience researching AI-driven automation, this was one of the clearest explanations of how intelligent agents can bring real business value. I like how it highlights not just the technology, but practical use cases and scalability. The way AI agents can handle complex, multi-step tasks is impressive. This page really helped me connect the dots: https://abtosoftware.com/services/ai-agent-development-services. It’s a solid resource for anyone considering implementing AI agents.
Reading about what really works in software makes you think about all the parts that go into quality code, and a practical way teams keep their work solid is with https://devcom.com/services/source-code-review-services which shows how having experts review code can catch hidden problems early, improve maintainability, and support the ideas in this book about building software you can trust.
Choosing a developer for your medical app is not just a budget decision — it’s about trust and compliance. I found a solid roundup of healthcare-focused software companies that truly understand patient data sensitivity, UI for doctors and patients, and backend security. The list is published here explore further https://limeup.io/blog/healthcare-app-development-companies . It goes into detail on the firms’ strengths, past projects, and healthcare certifications.