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programming and human factors
by Jeff Atwood Software program Engineering: Dead?
I used to be utterly floored when I read through this new IEEE post by Tom DeMarco (pdf). See if you can inform why.
My early metrics guide, Controlling Software program Projects: Management, Measurement, and Estimates [1986], played a role from the way a lot of budding program engineers quantified do the job and planned their assignments. In my reflective mood, I'm wondering, was its advice correct at the time, is it still relevant, and do I still believe that metrics are a must for any successful program development effort? My answers are no, no, and no.
I'm gradually coming to the conclusion that application engineering is an idea whose time has come and gone.
Software system development is and always will be somewhat experimental. The actual application construction isn't necessarily experimental, but its conception is. And this is where our focus ought to be. It's where our focus always ought to have been.
If your head just exploded, don't be alarmed. Mine did too. To somewhat reduce the migraine headache you might now be experiencing from reading the above summary, I highly recommend scanning the entire two page piece of writing pdf.
Tom DeMarco is one of the most deeply respected authority figures within the application industry, having coauthored the brilliant and seminal Peopleware as well as a lot of other near-classic program project management books like Waltzing With Bears. For a guy of Tom's caliber,Office Standard 2010 Serial, experience, and influence to come out and just flat out say that Software system Engineering is Dead …
… well, as Keanu Reeves once said, whoa.
That's kind of a big deal. It's scary.
And yet, it's also a release. It's as if a crushing weight has been lifted from my chest. I can publicly acknowledge what I've slowly, gradually realized over the last 5 to 10 years of my career as a application developer: what we do is craftsmanship, not engineering. And I can say this proudly, unashamedly, with nary a shred of self-doubt.
I think Joel Spolsky, my business partner, recently had a similar epiphany. He wrote about it in How Hard Could It Be?: The Unproven Path:
I have pretty deeply held ideas about how to develop software program, but I mostly kept them to myself. That turned out to be a good thing, because as the organization took shape, nearly all these principles were abandoned.
As for what this all means,Microsoft Office Pro Plus 2010 Key, I'm still trying to figure that out. I abandoned seven long-held principles about business and software engineering, and nothing terrible happened. Have I been too cautious from the past? Perhaps I used to be willing to be a little reckless because this was just a side project for me and not my main business. The experience is certainly a useful reminder that it's OK to throw caution to the wind when you're building something completely new and have no idea where it's going to take you.
Yes, I could add a lot of defensive computer software engineering caveats here about the particulars of the software system project you're working on: its type (mission critical, of course), its size (Google scale, naturally),Windows 7 Home Basic, the audience (millions of daily users, obviously),Office Professional Plus 2010 Product Key, and so forth.
But I'm not going to do that.
What DeMarco seems to be saying -- and, at least, what I am definitely saying -- is that control is ultimately illusory on program development assignments. If you happen to want to move your project forward, the only reliable way to do that is to cultivate a deep sense of software package craftsmanship and professionalism around it.
The guys and gals who show up every day eager to hone their craft,Office 2010 Pro 32bit, who are passionate about building stuff that matters to them, and perhaps in some small way, to the rest of the world -- those are the people and assignments that will ultimately succeed.
Everything else is just noise.
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