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Papers > Technology > Why the Software Industry is less effective at bringing new products to market than traditional engineering
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Why the Software Industry is less effective at bringing new products to market than traditional engineering |
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Why the Software Industry is less effective at bringing new products to market Given the problems in current software, from crashes in personal computer software to dangerous defects in embedded safety-critical software, the results achieved in traditional engineering disciplines, although not perfect, look mighty good by comparison. Therefore, the goal of the software industry should be to model itself on traditional engineering practices developed and improved with good reasons over hundreds of years. For example, the software industry should use a detailed design that plays the same roles for software that engineering drawings play for engineering of physical structures. An example of a recent software fiasco is outlined below User interface design error causes fatal airline crash. ... As software plays an increasing role in transportation, medicine and other safety-critical applications, creating safe software becomes a necessary requirement for overall system safety. For example, in motorway engineering, errors in bridge monitor, collision avoidance and traffic management software can have deadly consequences. Building software ought to be an engineering discipline. This is because software • Complex and error-prone • Requires special expertise to build • Increasingly often is safety critical. The record of electrical, structural, aerospace and other engineering disciplines that build physical structures is not perfect, but is impressive compared with the many documented computer fiascos that continue to occur. ... Wentworth on which discusses the relative reliability of roads and software. How Software Compares with Roads Roadway engineering and construction dates back to pre-Roman times. ... In the process of modernizing and improving design, construction and maintenance new approaches and technologies have been incorporated into civil engineering practice. Initially, many of the new technologies do not achieve the levels of reliability and standardization required by the civil engineering profession. Regrettably, many software systems fall into this category, due partly to the lack of verification, validation and evaluation standards. The goals of software systems are usually more ambitious than those of conventional or algorithmic programs. ... In traditional software engineering, testing [verification, validation and evaluation] is claimed to be an integral part of the design and development process. ... The complexity and uncertainty related to these tasks has led to a situation where most Software systems are not adequately tested. Impelled by the existing environment of lack of consensus among experts and inadequate procedures and tools, the Software Industry needs to develop a guideline for Software system verification, validation, and evaluation, complete with software that implements recommended techniques. The guideline is needed because knowledge engineers today do not often design and carry out rigorous test plans for Software systems. The software is necessary because real-world knowledge bases containing hundreds of rules and dozens of variables are difficult for humans to assimilate and evaluate. ... The techniques outlined above show how to start turning software development into real engineering What Traditional Engineering Does Designing and building software is done differently than designing and building aircraft, chemical plants and all the other devices produced by mechanical, civil, electrical, chemical and other traditional engineering fields. In building one of these traditional engineering products, the usual lifecycle includes the following steps: • Develop requirements based on accumulated experience… o e. ... as encoded in engineering standards. • Do a detailed design… o The traditional product of the design is a set of detailed engineering drawings. |
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Title: Why the Software Industry is less effective at bringing new products to market than traditional engineering
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