Coding Relic: Software Engineering Maxims which May or May Not Be True
This is a series of Software Engineering Maxims Which May or May Not Be True, developed over the last few years of working at Google. Your mileage may vary. Use only as directed. Past performance is not a predictor of future results. Etc.
In my mind, the ideal size for a software team is seven engineers. It does not have to be exactly seven: six is fine, eight is fine, but the further the team gets from the ideal the harder it is to get things done. Three people isn’t enough and limits impact, fourteen is too many to effectively coordinate and communicate amongst.
Organizing larger projects becomes an exercise in modularizing the system to allow teams of about seven people to own the delivery of a well-defined piece of the overall product. The largest parts of the system will end up with clusters of teams working on different aspects of the system.
By far the best way to improve engineering productivity is to have people working on something which they are genuinely enthused about. It is beneficial in many ways:
