So Parker a.k.a. WordPress 3.8 was released on schedule and while that may not seem impressive consider that there were 170 contributors to this project and that it was pretty much developed in tandem with the 3.7 update. As a software development manager I find that to be simply astounding because most of these contributions came from Average Joe/Jane volunteers and not employees.
It’s difficult enough to organize a small group of developers who’s job it is to create a medium sized project into a tight team capable of producing reliable results. One element that makes this possible is the new plugin first development structure of the core. This shift in design in important because it allows development to occur in a silo. If a feature is not completed for the release it can easily be postponed for later release or even released on it’s own without adversely impacting the project timeline, scope, and deliverables.
