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Is Software Engineering Engineering?

By Peter J. Denning, Richard D. Riehle
Communications of the ACM, March 2009, Vol. 52 No. 3, Pages 24-26
10.1145/1467247.1467257
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technical artwork — Illustration by Camille Chisholm/theispot.com

Software engineering continues to be dogged by claims it is not engineering. Adopting a computer-systems view that embraces hardware, software, and user environment may help.

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Comments

Edward Lowry

February 28, 2013 02:46

Engineering is largely getting more for less. In software that implies getting more functionality for less complexity. That requires eliminating extraneous complexity including that which is imposed by badly designed language. Currently used languages are are deficient on 6 leading edges compared to what was being designed at IBM 40 years ago:
1. simplicity of expression
2. fluency of expression.
3. generality of subject matter.
4. flexibility of data structures.
5. modularity of basic information building blocks.
6. durability of underlying design.
Hostility toward serious simplification has devastated software engineering for decades.
Edward S. Lowry, http://users.rcn.com/eslowry

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