10x Software Development

Technical Debt Webinar–Archive Version Now Available

Steve McConnell — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 19:42:17 GMT

Last week’s webinar on technical debt is now available for download ....(read more)

Managing Technical Debt: Free Webinar

Steve McConnell — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 23:15:54 GMT

I’ll be giving a free webinar on Managing Technical Debt on September 21, 2011 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. Here’s the registration link: http://adtmag.com/webcasts/2011/08/construx-managing-technical-debt.aspx?partnerref=con5 Here’s a brief overview: “Technical Debt” refers to delayed technical work that...(read more)

Construx Executive Summit 2011: Software Thought Leaders

Steve McConnell — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:51:00 GMT

Our 2011 Software Executive Summit registration is now open. We have an early bird registration special of $1000 off through August 15. Register today ! Our speaker focus this year is Software Thought Leaders, and once again we have an amazing lineup. We have the father of evolutionary development (Tom...(read more)

10 Deadly Sins of Software Estimation: Free Webinar

Steve McConnell — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 18:36:00 GMT

I’ll be giving a free webinar on the 10 Deadly Sins of Software Estimation on April 28, 2011 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. Here’s a link to sign up for it: http://adtmag.com/webcasts/2011/03/construx-10-deadly-sins-of-software-estimation.aspx?partnerref=con4 . Here’s the overview: The average...(read more)

I’ll be Giving a Keynote at the Scrum Alliance’s Scrum Gathering May 17, 2011

Steve McConnell — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:55:50 GMT

The Scrum Alliance Scrum Gathering conference is in Seattle this year, May 16-18, 2011. I’ll be giving the morning keynote on the second day. I’m excited to be able to share some of the details of Construx’s experiences helping organizations move to organization-wide Scrum. Here are the details about...(read more)

New Software Estimation Survey

Steve McConnell — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 20:16:13 GMT

I’m working with Ryan Nelson and Mike Morris at University of Virginia to conduct a new survey of software estimation in practice. If you can take just a few minutes to answer some survey questions, this will help us get an update on the kinds of estimation practices people are actually using today....(read more)

My Books Are Now Available in Kindle, PDF, and Other Electronic Formats

Steve McConnell — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:47:00 GMT

Readers have asked for years for electronic versions of my books, and I’m happy to say that electronic versions are now available for all of my Microsoft Press books. Software Estimation from Amazon.com in paperback or Kindle formats or from O'Reilly in various other Ebook formats (including...(read more)

Why Didn’t I Like “The Social Network?”

Steve McConnell — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 23:08:41 GMT

The title of this blog entry is an actual question. I really don’t understand why I didn’t like “The Social Network” more than I did. Based on stellar reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and a good price on Amazon, I preordered The Social Network on blu-ray, which I watched Friday night. This movie has many elements...(read more)

Technical Debt Webinar Recording is Now Available

Steve McConnell — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 20:30:00 GMT

View it here (free membership required to view). Webinar - Managing Technical Debt "Technical Debt" refers to delayed technical work that is incurred when technical short cuts are taken, usually in pursuit of calendar-driven software schedules. Technical debt is inherently neither good nor...(read more)

2011 Executive Discussion Topics Announced

Steve McConnell — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 23:54:00 GMT

Here are the ECSE group’s Discussion topics for 2011: January Job Market 2011: Compensation, Recruiting, and Retention Issues February Organizational Structures March Motivating Software Development Teams April Issues for Software Development in Hardware-Centric Environments May The Cloud's...(read more)

10x Productivity Myths: Where’s the 10x Difference in Compensation?

Steve McConnell — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 00:42:00 GMT

In response to my recent blog post on the research support for 10x productivity differences among programmers, Pete McBreen made the following comment : "One point in his article that McConnell did not address-- programmer compensation does not vary accordingly . This is a telling point--if the...(read more)

Upcoming Free Webinar: A Technical Debt Roadmap

Steve McConnell — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:56:53 GMT

I’m excited about the webinar I’ll be leading on “A Technical Debt Roadmap.” It’s Tuesday, January 25, at 11:00 am Pacific Time. Check it out . Here’s a description: "Technical Debt" refers to delayed technical work that is incurred when technical short cuts are taken, usually in pursuit of...(read more)

Origins of 10X – How Valid is the Underlying Research?

Steve McConnell — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 01:15:00 GMT

I recently contributed a chapter to Making Software (Oram and Wilson, eds., O’Reilly, 2011). The purpose of this edited collection of essays is to pull together research-based writing on software engineering. In essence, the purpose is to say, “What do we really know ( quantitatively based...(read more)

Construx Job Opening: Software Development Trainer/Consultant

Steve McConnell — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:12:00 GMT

Construx is looking for a trainer/consultant. Construx has a fantastic staff and unmatched benefits. For the well qualified person who wants to do excellent work in a highly stimulating environment, it is a dream job -- which is why we've been recognized as the Best Small Company to Work for in Washington...(read more)

2010 ECSE Meeting Topics Announced

Steve McConnell — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:46:22 GMT

The 2010 Executive Council for Software Excellence (ECSE) meeting topics have been announced. They are: January Optimizing for Innovation February Accelerating Organizational Change March Successful Leadership in Software Development April Managing the Release Process May Managing "Core" Development...(read more)

Why Requirements Weren't More Prominent in Construx's Classic Mistakes Survey

Steve McConnell — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:04:31 GMT

A reader of our 2008 Classic Mistakes White Paper made the following observation: I work in the Aerospace/Defense industry and have read your article called Software Development's Classic Mistakes 2008 dated July 2008. I am most interested in questioning the results of your most damaging classic...(read more)

Travel Restrictions and Offshore Development

Steve McConnell — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:40:06 GMT

One benefit of my job is that I get to talk to people from hundreds of companies every year, and the people I work with talk to even more people. In recent discussions I've seen a disturbing trend emerging -- disturbing because it's so common and because the effects are so easily predictable...(read more)

State of the Practice Survey

Steve McConnell — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:21:00 GMT

Construx has developed the State of the Practice Survey with the goal of better understanding which software practices really work, which really don't work, and identify trends in practice adoption. Survey participants will receive a summary report of the findings later this year in advance of the...(read more)

Facebook Page

Steve McConnell — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:13:00 GMT

UCU4HFPHZY2R I now have a public Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/n/?pages/Steve-McConnell/198720075270&mid=8a4602G316afb94G1ae8a37G4c . I plan to use this page for small scale blog entries, updates on what I'm reading, announcements, and so on....(read more)

Free Webinar: 10 Deadly Sins of Software Estimation

Steve McConnell — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:05:09 GMT

I'll be giving a free webinar tomorrow at 10:00 am Pacific time on the 10 Deadly Sins of Software Estimation. You can sign up here: http://www.sdtimes.com/content/webinars.aspx Here's the full announcement: The average project overruns its planned budget and schedule by 50%-80%. In practice,...(read more)

Next Generation Project Planning Tool: LiquidPlanner 2.0

Steve McConnell — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:33:00 GMT

I receive several requests a year to sit on various advisory boards, and I always say no--I just don't have the time. Last year I received a request I couldn't refuse from Charles Seybold, Bruce Henry, and Jason Carlson at LiquidPlanner . I had known Charles and Bruce when they were at Expedia...(read more)

Construx Offers Free Training for Laid-Off Software Workers

Steve McConnell — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:51:00 GMT

After listening to doom and gloom economic reports for the past few months, we decided we would try to do something to brighten our little corner of the world. Here's our official press release about it: Construx Software has designated 25% of its public seminar seats free of charge to software workers...(read more)

2009 ECSE Meeting Topics Announced

Steve McConnell — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:51:04 GMT

The 2009 Executive Council for Software Excellence (ECSE) meeting topics have been announced. They are: January Successful Leadership in Software Development February Overcoming a Legacy of Poor Quality March Organizational Structures April Accelerating Organizational Change May Working Effectively with...(read more)

New White Papers

Steve McConnell — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:43:27 GMT

We've recently posted a few new white papers on our website, along with some existing papers. These are free to members (and membership is free). 10 Keys to Successful Scrum Adoption Scrum is a project management approach for Agile software development and is the most commonly adopted Agile approach...(read more)

In Defense of the Bill Gates / Jerry Seinfeld Ad #2

Steve McConnell — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:22:00 GMT

Say what you like about the new Bill Gates /Jerry Seinfeld ads, I have to approve Bill's choice of bedtime reading. He's reading from Section 18.2 of Code Complete 2. (It's about 1:10 into the video.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBWPf1BWtkw I thought I was the only person who read Code...(read more)