Egoless programming: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 11:01, 15 October 2021

Latest revision as of 04:56, 26 March 2025

(7 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown)

Line 1:

{{Short description|Computer development technique}}

'''Egoless programming''' is a style of [[computer programming]] in which personal factors are minimized so that quality may be improved. The [[cooperative]] methods suggested are similar to those used by other [[collective]] ventures such as [[Wikipedia]].

==History==

The concept was first propounded by [[Gerald M. Weinberg]] in his seminal1971 book of 1971, ''The Psychology of Computer Programming''.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=76dIAAAAMAAJ | title=The Psychology of Computer Programming | publisher=Van Nostrand Reinhold | year=1971 | last=Weinberg | first=Gerald M.| isbn=9780442207649 }}</ref>

==Peer reviews of code==

Line 8 ⟶ 9:

==Strengths==

* Works best for complex tasks. ('difficult' used in <ref name="mantei1981"/>)

* Open communication channels allow information to flow freely to team members

* Greater conformity that helps in consistent documentation

Line 14 ⟶ 15:

==Weaknesses==

* Projects take a longer time to complete.<ref name="mantei1981">{{cite journal | url=http://sunnyday.mit.edu/16.355/mantei-teams.pdf | title=The Effect of Programming Team Structures on Programming Tasks | last=Mantei | journal=Communications of the ACM |date=March 1981 | volume=24 | issue=3 | pages=106–113 | first=Marilyn | doi=10.1145/358568.358571| s2cid=207907944 }}</ref>

* Projects experience a higher failure rate due to the decentralized nature of and volume of communication between members of the team.<ref name="mantei1981">{{cite journal | url=http://sunnyday.mit.edu/16.355/mantei-teams.pdf | title=The Effect of Programming Team Structures on Programming Tasks | last=Mantei | journal=Communications of the ACM |date=March 1981 | volume=24 | issue=3 | pages=106–113 | first=Marilyn | doi=10.1145/358568.358571| s2cid=207907944 }}</ref>

* Risky shift phenomenon{{snd}} Programmers attempt riskier solutions to solve a software problem.<ref name="mantei1981">{{cite journal | url=http://sunnyday.mit.edu/16.355/mantei-teams.pdf | title=The Effect of Programming Team Structures on Programming Tasks | last=Mantei | journal=Communications of the ACM |date=March 1981 | volume=24 | issue=3 | pages=106–113 | first=Marilyn | doi=10.1145/358568.358571| s2cid=207907944 }}</ref>

* Simple tasks are made more difficult by open communication channels.{{Clarify|date=February 2020}}{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

Note: The single paper cited <ref name="mantei1981"/> for 'Strengths & Weaknesses' is from 1981 and says in its conclusions:

<blockquote>Most of the research on group problem-solving behavior was conducted in a laboratory setting with students and tasks of short duration.</blockquote>

<blockquote>None of these task/structure recommendations have been tested in a software development environment.</blockquote>

==Rival concepts==