[Cz-computers] Software engineering article - feedback request

[Greg Woodhouse]

I think this is a great start. The definition from IEEE 610.12 was an
excellent place to begin, and bypasses a lot of confusion in the
industry, whee the term software engineering has effectively been
co-opted by certain methodologies, effectively becoming a marketing
term. The reference to Brooks is good, but while his writings
(particularly "The Mythical Man Month") are classic, they are also
widely considered to be dated, and are often used as anti-exampls more
than anything else. There is another, extremely understandable, bias
here, and that is software engineering as a business discipline,
focusing on such things as project management. That's all important,
but it ignores the important theoretical principles underlying
software development. So often, fundamental problems are quickly
dismissed as "implementation issues" and not worthy of being
considered part of the discipline of software engineering. I wonder if
we would be so quick to say that the decision to use an iron or
aluminum engine block, or to use anti-lock braking systems didn't
belong to the discipline of automotive engineering?

Well, I'll stop there. This list isn't meant to be used as a soapbox.

On 10/22/07, Mark Jones <subs-citizendium at loosesparks.net> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I would like to solicit feedback and suggestions for the software
> engineering article from computer experts and lay people.
>
> This is a major article in the Computers Workgroup and I would love to see
> it reach approved status as soon as possible.
>
> Many thanks.
>
> Mark Jones
>
>
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-- 
Gregory Woodhouse
gregory.woodhouse at gmail.com
 "The whole of science is nothing more
 than a refinement  of everyday
 thinking."  -- Albert Einstein