The Leprechauns of Software Engineering is a work in progress with the purpose of critically analyzing software engineering and its research community. Bonavit illustrates the current state of affairs by debunking some of the myths of our field, such as the cost of change and the 10x programmer. He critically analyzes some of the more influencial work in the field and points to misinterpretations and misquotes.
The book was an interesting, albreit somewhat discouraging read. Bonavit is very eloquent and argues his case in a clear and humoristic way. He effectively tears down the current body of research in software engineering. The chapters where he will suggest a better road ahead are still missing.
As a researcher in this area, currently struggling to define a reliable method for validating a metrics model, I can certainly agree with most of what Bonavit is saying. I especially agree that we suffer from discipline envy. We tend to forget that software engineering really is a social science, where terms such as defects or cost are not absolute units of observation but rather open to interpretation that varies between individuals, projects and organizations.
I'm looking forward to reading the finished book with the constructive part included. As a discipline, we are still quite immature, and we can all benefit from taking a look in the proverbial mirror and trying to weed out our own leprechauns.
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