Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering

Front Cover
Addison-Wesley Professional, 2003 - Computers - 195 pages

The practice of building software is a "new kid on the block" technology. Though it may not seem this way for those who have been in the field for most of their careers, in the overall scheme of professions, software builders are relative "newbies."

In the short history of the software field, a lot of facts have been identified, and a lot of fallacies promulgated. Those facts and fallacies are what this book is about.

There's a problem with those facts-and, as you might imagine, those fallacies. Many of these fundamentally important facts are learned by a software engineer, but over the short lifespan of the software field, all too many of them have been forgotten. While reading Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering, you may experience moments of "Oh, yes, I had forgotten that," alongside some "Is that really true?" thoughts.

The author of this book doesn't shy away from controversy. In fact, each of the facts and fallacies is accompanied by a discussion of whatever controversy envelops it. You may find yourself agreeing with a lot of the facts and fallacies, yet emotionally disturbed by a few of them! Whether you agree or disagree, you will learn why the author has been called "the premier curmudgeon of software practice."

These facts and fallacies are fundamental to the software building field-forget or neglect them at your peril!

 

Contents

IV
3
V
9
VI
11
VIII
14
X
16
XII
17
XIV
19
XVI
23
L
104
LI
108
LII
110
LIII
113
LIV
117
LV
119
LVI
120
LVII
124

XVII
25
XIX
27
XXII
31
XXIII
33
XXIV
35
XXV
36
XXVI
39
XXVII
42
XXIX
43
XXX
45
XXXI
49
XXXII
51
XXXIII
55
XXXIV
60
XXXV
65
XXXVIII
67
XXXIX
73
XL
76
XLI
79
XLII
81
XLIII
84
XLIV
87
XLV
90
XLVI
91
XLVII
97
XLVIII
101
XLIX
103
LVIII
127
LXI
129
LXII
132
LXIII
134
LXIV
136
LXV
137
LXVI
138
LXVII
139
LXVIII
141
LXIX
144
LXX
147
LXXIII
148
LXXIV
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LXXV
153
LXXVI
155
LXXIX
158
LXXX
161
LXXXI
164
LXXXII
166
LXXXVI
169
LXXXVII
172
LXXXVIII
176
XCI
180
XCII
184
XCIII
186
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