Death march (software development)

: This article is about the use of this term in software development. For real death marches, see death march.

In software development and software engineering industry, a death march is a dysphemism for a project that is destined to fail. Usually it is a result of unrealistic or overly optimistic expectations in scheduling, feature scope, or both. The knowledge of the doomed nature of the project weighs heavily on the psyche of its participants, as if they are helplessly watching the team as it marches into the sea. Often, the death march will involve desperate attempts to right the course of the project by asking team members to work especially gruelling hours, weekends, or by attempting to throw bodies at the problem with varying results, often causing burnout.

Edward Yourdon authored a Death March (book) of the same title, specifically focusing on mitigating issues in death march software projects, or similar technological development projects that are notable for a lack of resources and unreasonable expectations.