This article examines how to measure AI's impact on software development delivery speed, arguing that delivery speed differs from productivity and proposing self-comparison as a measurement approach. The author discusses why common metrics like lines of code, pull requests, and story points are unreliable, and explores the challenges of using estimate-to-actual ratios to assess team performance improvements.
Size It Up Unlimited is a free browser-based game where players estimate the size of objects, animals, landmarks, and planets by stretching outlines against a known reference scale. Players make five guesses per round and score based on accuracy within 5%, with access to unlimited rounds and a pool of 1,932 comparisons across diverse categories.
A book examining Fred Brooks's classic software engineering insights through the lens of AI coding agents, exploring how his principles on conceptual integrity, team structure, and complexity hold up when one team member is a tireless, token-consuming tool. Written for practicing engineers, architects, and managers navigating the practical challenges of AI-augmented development.
A free web-based software project cost estimator that uses a mathematical model combining COCOMO, Function Points, and Mythical Man-Month concepts. Users describe projects as work trees, rate complexity across eight axes, and account for skill gaps and external tools to generate detailed hour and cost breakdowns with PDF export.
Yak shaving—recursively solving peripheral problems while pursuing a main goal—is a symptom of poor workspace organization and task ordering. The article advises preventing it through proactive cleanup, starting database-first in development, and maintaining a separate list of organizational tasks to tackle during downtime.