The Surgical Team

Jacob Harper

The Problem Good Programmer vs Poor Programmer

10 times more productive 200 man project

25 manager, 175 programmers Inefficient

Most effective team size: 10

Surgical Team The Idea:

Surgeon does all the work Has a team to assist him/her with every

function This allows him/her to focus fully on the

surgery

The Surgeon Chief Programmer

Defines the Specifications Designs the Program Codes, Tests, and

Documents Needs Experience

Ten Years, at least Systems Knowledge Mathematics

The Copilot Able to do everything the

Surgeon does, but less experienced

Surgeon bounces ideas off of him

Not bound to take the copilot's advice

Can step in if the surgeon is absent

The Administrator Handles money, people, space, and machines

Surgeon has the final say on all this but needs to spend his time on coding

One administrator can serve two teams

The Editor Works on the documentation that is provided

by the surgeon Revises the versions of documentation Adds sources where necessary

Two Secretaries One for the Administrator One for the Editor They handle project correspondence and non-product

files.

The Program Clerk Maintains records of everything done on the

project Output listings Computer Inputs Updates program copies

The Toolsmith Provides the team with

the necessary software and hardware for the project

Continually makes sure that it is up-to-date

The Tester Provides suitable test cases for the program Both an Assistant and an Adversary

The Language Lawyer Very apt in the the language that is currently being

used Knows efficient tricks Can service 2-3

surgeons

Large Team Implementations Take a 200 man team Divide into 10 man groups Then only have to coordinate 20 minds