Has Software Development Improved? 848
earnest_deyoung asks: "Twenty-five years ago Frederick Brooks laid out a vision of the future of software engineering in "No Silver Bullet." At the time he thought improvements in the process of software creation were most likely to come from object-oriented programming, of-the-shelf components, rapid prototyping, and cultivation of truly great designers. I've found postings on /. where people tout all sorts of design tools, from languages like Java, Perl, Python, Ruby, and Smalltalk to design aids and processes like UML and eXtreme Programming. I'm in a Computer Science degree program, and I keep wondering what "improvements" over the last quarter century have actually brought progress to the key issue: more quickly and more inexpensively developing software that's more reliable?"
Programming 25 years ago... (Score:2, Funny)
Computers don't boot into a ROM BASIC anymore.
WELCOME! (Score:2, Funny)
Don't know about improvements.... (Score:5, Funny)
The Silver Bullet (Score:3, Funny)
It is obvious who the leader is (Score:4, Funny)
Re:"I'm in a Computer Science degree program"????? (Score:1, Funny)
He needs someone to solve serious problems [usatoday.com] his brand new Homeland Security Office has. There are, for instance, "...technical issues such as how to handle incompatible e-mail systems".
Got an assignment? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Cheap, Good, Fast - Pick 2 (Score:4, Funny)
Re:One day... (Score:2, Funny)
So, they've caught up to... (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, this is flamebait. Yes, I'm bitter and curmudgeonly. Perceptive of you to notice...
Re:Cheap, Good, Fast - Take all 3, if you're good (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah, but an advanced tactical fighter aircraft is utterly trivial compared to the complexity of a software system.
OF COURSE IT HAS IMPROVED - Look at M$! (Score:3, Funny)
Security is at the heart of the Windows' design - It is so bloated, unstable and slow that no hacker ever gets a chance. Now you know why it got C2 certification.
Re:Cheap, Good, Fast - Pick 2 (Score:2, Funny)
Of course the 5000 or more years of experience we've had building bridges and buildings probably haven't hurt.
Re:Cheap, Good, Fast - Take all 3, if you're good (Score:2, Funny)
I got none of a degree but I can replace a simple iterative procedure with a bugged out recursive
one with the best comp-sci major son.
Only thing you cs guys got going for you is a case of the "must readmes" and an attitude.
Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions (Score:2, Funny)
A: No. First we had UNIX, then MacOS, then Windows. If that's not evidence for a decline in software quality, I don't know what is.
Re:Java and GPL - slower software, less incentives (Score:2, Funny)