From Software Art to Software Engineering

A recent article (Gibbs, 1994) offers an excellent and alarming view of the state of software development, suggesting that software engineering, which is defined as the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to software development, operation, and maintenance, remains an aspiration. The vast majority of computer code is still handcrafted from second-generation programming languages by artisans using techniques that are neither measured nor repeatable. This article describes initiatives to address this software crisis and to create a software profession that embraces engineering disciplines.