"The Mythical Man-Month" is more than a technology book; it is one of
             the Bible's in programming and information technology. Even though it was
             originally written in 1975, most of the information is still current,
             applicable, and extremely valuable today. The anniversary edition,
             released in 1995, only contains a few updates, as the author notes in the
             Preface. The author's main premise is that "large programming projects
             suffer management problems different in kind from small ones, due to
             division of labor" (Brooks xii). He goes on to include numerous essays on
             everything from successful programming to tools used and some catastrophes
             Initially, the author tries to identify the "craft" of system
             programming, while identifying what a program is, and how it is created
             from start to finished program, while defining what makes a truly usable
             program. He then goes on to define just how a program fits into the whole
             picture of a programming system, which he defines as a "collection of
             interacting programs, coordinated in function and disciplined in format, so
             that the assemblage constitutes an entire facility for large tasks" (Brooks
             6). Thus, Brooks defines the joys and woes of programming in the first
             chapter, and then moves along to his central theme, "The Mythical Man-
             Perhaps the most compelling point Brooks makes in the book is from
             the essay that gives the book its' title. Brooks believes this method for
             measuring the time spent on a project could be one of the most damaging
             ideals in the programming industry. An example of this theory used in many
             workplaces is ten men working on a project for one month equals ten man-
             months in time spent on the project. He writes, "Hence the man-month as a
             unit for measuring the size of a job is a dangerous and deceptive myth"
             (Brooks 16). He feels that men and months are not "interchangeable
             commodities," and that a ...