A View of 20th and 21st Century Software Engineering
Speaker: Professor Barry Boehm, University of Southern California
When: 2007-12-14 11:00:00
Venue: 78-420
Host: David Carrington
Abstract:George Santayana's statement, "Those who cannot remember the past are
condemned to repeat it," is only half true. The past also includes
successful histories. If you haven't been made aware of them, you're often
condemned not to repeat their successes.
In a rapidly expanding field such as software engineering, this happens a
lot. Extensive studies of many software projects such as the Standish
Reports offer convincing evidence that this is the case.
This seminar tries to identify at least some of the major past software
experiences that were well worth repeating, and some that were not. It also
tries to identify underlying phenomena influencing the evolution of software
engineering practices that have at least helped the author appreciate how
our field has gotten to where it has been and where it is.
A counterpart Santayana-like statement about the past and future might say,
"In an era of rapid change, those who repeat the past are condemned to a
bleak future." (Think about the dinosaurs, and think carefully about
software engineering maturity models that emphasize repeatability.)
This seminar also tries to identify some of the major sources of change that
will affect software engineering practices in the next couple of decades,
and identifies some strategies for assessing and adapting to these sources
of change. It also makes some first steps towards distinguishing relatively
timeless software engineering principles that are risky not to repeat, and
conditions of change under which aging practices will become increasingly
risky to repeat.
Biography:Dr. Barry Boehm served within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) from 1989
to 1992 as director of the DARPA Information Science and Technology Office
and as director of the DDR&E Software and Computer Technology Office. He
worked at TRW from 1973 to 1989, culminating as chief scientist of the
Defense Systems Group, and at the Rand Corporation from 1959 to 1973,
culminating as head of the Information Sciences Department. He entered the
software field at General Dynamics in 1955. His current research interests
involve recasting software engineering into a value-based framework,
including processes, methods, and tools for value-based software definition,
architecting, development, validation, and evolution. His contributions to
the field include the Constructive Cost Model (COCOMO), the Spiral Model of
the software process, and the Theory W (win-win) approach to software
management and requirements determination. He has received the ACM
Distinguished Research Award in Software Engineering and the IEEE Harlan
Mills Award, and an honorary ScD in Computer Science from the University of
Massachusetts. He is a Fellow of the primary professional societies in
computing (ACM), aerospace (AIAA), electronics (IEEE), and systems
engineering (INCOSE), and a member of the U.S. National Academy of
Engineering.
Type: SSE
Contact:David Carrington, seminar host (davec@itee.uq.edu.au)
or Guido Governatori (ITEE seminar co-ordinator)
(guido@itee.uq.edu.au)