Eric Brechner
PUBLISHED BY
Microsoft Press
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Redmond, Washington 98052-6399
Copyright © 2011 by Microsoft Corporation
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2011931649
ISBN: 978-0-7356-6170-7
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Acquisitions and Developmental Editor: Devon Musgrave
Project Editor: Valerie Woolley
Editorial Production: Curtis Philips
Copyeditor: John Pierce
Indexer: William Meyers
Cover: John Hersey
Reader Acclaim for I. M. Wright’s
“Hard Code” Column
Any large organization is prone to fall prey to its own self-made culture. Myths
about how things should be or should be done turn into self-fullling prophecies.
Any such trend is surely terminal for any organization, but it is a rapid killer in a
technology company that thrives on perpetual innovation. Eric Brechner does an
incredible job at pulling out the scalpel and cutting deep into such organizational
uff. He is also not shy at throwing a full punch—the occasional black eye being
an intended outcome. While some of the lingo and examples are somewhat more
appealing to the Microsoft insider, there is little in his wit and wisdom that shouldn’t
become lore across the software industry.
—Clemens Szyperski, Principal Architect
Great article on dev schedules by “I. M. Wright.” It applies equally well to
infrastructure projects that my group is involved in.
—Ian Puttergill, Group Manager
You’re not getting any death threats or anything, are you?
—Tracey Meltzer, Senior Test Lead
This has got to be a joke—quite frankly, this type of pure absurdity is dangerous.
—Chad Dellinger, Enterprise Architect
Eric is a personal hero of mine—largely because he’s been the voice of reason in
the Dev community for a very long time.
—Chad Dellinger, Enterprise Architect
Software engineers can easily get lost in their code or, even worse, in their
processes. That’s when Eric’s practical advice in “Hard Code” is really needed!
—David Greenspoon, General Manager
I just read this month’s column…. I have to say this is the rst time I think you are
pushing an idea that is completely wrong and disastrous for the company.
—David Greenspoon, General Manager
You kick ass Eric : ) I was having just this conversation with my PUM and some dev
leads a few months ago. Great thinking piece.
—Scott Cottrille, Principal Development Manager
Do w nl o ad fr o m W ow ! e B oo k < w ww . wo w eb o ok . co m >
We really like these columns. They are so practical and, well, sane! I also love that
I can refer back to them when I’m trying to help a junior dev get up to speed and
they remember the column since they are usually so entertaining.
—Malia Ansberry, Senior Software Engineer
Nice job, Eric. I think you really hit the nail on the head in this column. I think a
good message to give to managers is, “Don’t be afraid to experiment.” How things
really work is so different than idealized theories.
—Bob Fries, Partner Development Manager
I just wanted to let you know how much I love what you write—its intelligent,
insightful, and you somehow manage to make serious matter funny (in the good
way).
—Niels Hilmar Madsen, Developer Evangelist
We’re going to be doing the feature cuts meetings over the next few weeks, and
your death march column was just in time. It’s a good reminder of lessons that
were hard learned but somehow are still more easily forgotten than they should be.
—Bruce Morgan, Principal Development Manager
I wanted to let you know that I really appreciated and enjoyed all of your writings
posted on the EE site. Until, today, I read [“Stop Writing Specs”]. I have to say that I
strongly disagree with your opinion.
—Cheng Wei, Program Manager
Who are you and what have you done with Eric Brechner?
—Olof Hellman, Software Engineer
Eric, I just read the “Beyond Comparison” article you wrote and want you to know
how much I appreciate that you actually communicated this to thousands of people
at this company…. Thank you for your passion in managing and leading teams the
right way and then sharing the HOW part of that!
—Teresa Horgan, Business Program Manager
v
Contents at a Glance
1 Project Mismanagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 Process Improvement, Sans Magic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3 Inefciency Eradicated. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4 Cross Disciplines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5 Software Quality—More Than a Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
6 Software Design If We Have Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
7 Adventures in Career Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
8 Personal Bug Fixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
9 Being a Manager, and Yet Not Evil Incarnate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
10 Microsoft, You Gotta Love It. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
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