Death march (software development)
- Death march (software development)
In the software development and software engineering industries, a death march is a dysphemism for a project that is destined to fail. Usually it is a result of unrealistic or overly optimistic expectations in scheduling, feature scope, or both, and often includes lack of appropriate documentation, or any sort of relevant training. The knowledge of the doomed nature of the project weighs heavily on the psyche of its participants, as if they are helplessly watching the team as it marches into the sea. Often, the death march will involve desperate attempts to right the course of the project by asking team members to work especially grueling hours, weekends, or by attempting to "throw (enough) bodies at the problem" with varying results, often causing burnout.
The term "death march" in this context was discussed at length in Edward Yourdon's book "Death March: The Complete Software Developer's Guide to Surviving 'Mission Impossible' Projects" (ISBN 0130146595), which has a second edition simply titled "Death March" (ISBN 013143635X).
ee also
Brooks's law
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Death march (project management) — This article is about the use of the term in project management (originally and especially in software development). For real death marches, see death march. In project management, a death march is any of several types of pathologic projects… … Wikipedia
March 2011 — was the third month of the current year. It began on a Tuesday and ended after 31 days on a Thursday. International holidays (See Holidays and observances, on sidebar at right, below) Portal:Current events This is an archived version of Wikipedia … Wikipedia
Death Rally — Developer(s) Remedy (PC, iPhone,[1] iPod touch … Wikipedia
Death of Philip Gale — Philip Gale Date March 13, 1998 (1998 03 13) Location Cambridge, Massachusetts The death of Philip Gale by suicide took place on Friday March 13, 1998. Gale fell to his deat … Wikipedia
March 2005 — ← – January 2005 – February 2005 – March – April 2005 – May 2005 – June 2005 – July 2005 – August 2005 – September 2005 – October 2005 – November 2005 – December 2005 – → < Marc … Wikipedia
March 2010 — was the third month of that year. It began on a Monday and ended after 31 days on a Wednesday. International holidays (See Holidays and observances, on sidebar at right, below) Portal:Current events This is an archived version of Wikipedia s… … Wikipedia
Development of Duke Nukem Forever — The video game Duke Nukem Forever spent fifteen years in development, from 1996 to 2011. It is a first person shooter for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360,[1] developed by 3D Realms, Triptych Games, Gearbox Software and Piranha Games. It is a… … Wikipedia
Death of Osama bin Laden — Death of Osama bin Laden … Wikipedia
Software bug — To report a MediaWiki error on Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Bug reports. A software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or … Wikipedia
Mark Pilgrim (software developer) — Mark Pilgrim Born November 24, 1972 (1972 11 24) (age 38) Residence Apex, North Carolina, USA … Wikipedia
