Lean Software Development
by Mary Poppendieck, Tom Poppendieck · first published 2003
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Why HN recommends it
Explains how Lean manufacturing principles such as feedback, learning, and reducing waste map onto software projects; recommended for grounding Lean ideas in software practice, especially for skeptical developers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In business I often come across software development. And with this question I try to turn to specialists https://www.protodevs.de/en/our-services/software-development/ They help me turn my ideas into high-quality applications that bring me great success.
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For fellow developers worried that "Lean" is just a buzzword, I've got two books to recommend: "Lean Software Development" by Mary Poppendieck. Talks about what Lean Manufacturing principles look like when applied to software development: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0321150783 "Toyota Kata" by Mike Rother. Nominally about…
on “Lean” ↗…Alternatives" sections at the end of each practice. I'm not aware of any books that are purely about the underlying theory, but these books swing the pendulum more towards the theory side of things: Lean Software Development (Mary and Tom Poppendieck) - if you only read one, this is the one to read The Principles of Product Development Flow (Tom Reinertsen) Agile Software Development, 2nd. ed. (Alistair Cockburn) Extreme…
on “Ask HN: Does the Scrum Framework Work?” ↗In Continuous Delivery and DevOps: Lean software Development - Mary & Tom Poppendieck The DevOps Handbook - Gene Kim, Jez Humble, Patrick Debois Accelerate - Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, Gene Kim Continuous Integration - Paul M. Duvall, Andrew Glover, Steve…
on “Ask HN: What are the best textbooks in your field of expertise?” ↗…well. Note that we are discussing "no deadlines or release dates for specific features", not just a magical world without consequences. If you are looking for how this works, Poppendieck's books on Lean Software Development go into both the theory and practice. But the basic notion is that you control costs via scope control, waste reduction, minimizing WIP, and continuous improvement. One still delivers things quickly and…
on “It’s not the methods that are Agile, it’s the people” ↗It's worth looking at books like Lean Software Development to see better how the concepts of Lean can apply to software. You're correct that TPS, being meant for a manufacturing environment, doesn't directly translate. But if you examine the principles on which…
on “The Toyota Way at Codeweavers” ↗Another way to look at emphasizing latency/feedback is to "increase learning". There's a great book, Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit, that covers this. The idea is that there are so many unknowns within a project, that organizations should aim to move quickly enough to uncover them sooner. A lot of these unknowns…
on “Inefficient Efficiency (2019)” ↗You may want to read the book Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit, it describes waste in the same manner and offers principles to help reduce it.
on “Software Development Waste” ↗…talking about the overwrought excuse for micromanagement people call “Agile” nowadays, but the truly innovative thinking that was happening in the late 90s and early 2000s. Stuff like the Poppendiecks’ Lean Software Development (based on their experience at 3M) and Cockburn’s Agile Software Development (based on research he originally conducted at IBM). And of course Beck’s Extreme Programming, based in part on his work with…
on “Systems Engineering, or "why james gets paid"” ↗Anything focusing on Lean Software Development and/or Agile. As much hate those words bring up in people that have had bad experiences and bad management of those processes, the alternatives of waterfall are much worse for software. There are exceptions…
on “Any good resources for learning Software Project Management?” ↗Sort of. I haven't read the book yet, but from Eric's blog, he mentions three books as big inspirations: Beck's "Extreme Programming Explained", Poppendieck's "Lean Software Development", and Blank's "Customer Development". The first two books were also important in the Agile community. (Although in my view what now gets sold as "Agile" has watered both of those down almost to the point…
on “Book review: The Lean Startup” ↗…manifesto is about software, a lot of the ideas (beyond the manifesto itself and influencing the manifesto) come from other disciplines. Mary and Tom Poppendieck, for example, are major proponents of Lean Software Development, whose ideas are a translation from the world of physical manufacturing. Many of the DevOps ideas (not necessarily how it's played out) come from Eli Goldratt and his Theory of Constraints. An interesting…
on “Plan the Sprint, Not the Project” ↗…covers in depth seven fundamental lean principles: Eliminate Waste, Amplify Learning, Decide as Late as Possible, Deliver as Fast as Possible, Empower the Team, Build Integrity In and Seeing The Whole." "Lean Software Development helps you refocus development on value, flow and people- so you can achieve breakthrough quality, savings, speed and business alignment." Yeah, they're both from the same book, but the author chooses…
on “Books about Lean Software Development ” ↗…back fired because the people optimized for the reward, instead of the long term goal of reducing the number of deaths, like the development of anti-venom mentioned previously. I read the article about Lean Software Development and one of the concept the stuck me is banning local optimization (http://drdobbs.com/184414744).
on “Cobra effect” ↗…making cars or widgets, you make them one by one. They proceed through the manufacturing process and you can gain very real efficiencies by paying attention to how the pieces go through the process. Lean Software Development has chosen to see tasks as pieces. We carry them through a process and end up with completed products on the other side. > It's a nice view of the world, but it is a bit of a lie. In software development,…
on “The Cost of Features (2013)” ↗…develop, test, deploy of features that have minimal or no usage. I've seen many cases that by the time a feature gets out there, its not needed/wanted any more. There are charts and stuff on this regarding Lean Software Development. Another pro is barriers are identified quickly and can be problem-solved quickly. Figure out your unknowns really early and you can adjust what you're building. Over the last year with everything…
on “Ask HN: Do you think Agile/Scrum is beneficial for software delivery?” ↗