Here's a much shorter version: the construction analogy is broken because building a building is not like writing a program, it's like compiling a program. Writing a program is kind of like designing a building, except that every time you write non-trivial software it's like designing a new kind of house to be inhabited by a species that's never lived in a house before.

OK, OK, it's not as bad as all that. Clearly, there are design patterns and structural approaches that recur, and experience from previous projects does apply to new projects. And scheduling and tracking are important and useful, as long as everyone involved is willing to be brutally honest, and prepared to prioritize. But nobody has ever suffered from writer's block when laying rebar or putting up drywall.  12:05:45 AM  (comments [])