[thedragonline]

>People who have worked in the second type of environment (deadlines are real and have consequences) become quite good at estimating and managing progress toward deadlines without crunch mode at the end.<

I don't know. In my experience, estimation is one of the most difficult aspects of software engineering. A black swan event or some unknown unknown will blow apart your thoughtful estimate (especially near the end of a development cycle) - no matter how good you are at it. I'd much rather have a crystal ball at hand, and let the chips fall where they may, than engage in a herculean struggle to accurately predict the future.

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