Alexander Thurow

„Most software development practices in common use today are seriously outdated and ineffective. This situation arises from lack of initial education, lack of continuing professional development, lack of time for personal improvement, lack of professional standards, treatment of software as a craft rather than as an engineering discipline, and many other reasons. […] The benefits of creating a true profession of…“ 1/

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Feb 17 at 8:30amWeb
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
„… software engineering are so compelling that, I believe, 25 years from now organizations that today resist the movement toward software engineering will be viewed the same way as farmers who resisted crop rotation or businesses that resisted the telephone. Practitioners who protest that software engineering is not possible are generally misinformed or simply afraid to change. But the fact that software engineering is possible does not mean that it is…“ 2/
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
„… easy. For software engineering to achieve the status of a true profession, many organizations will have to work together, including the engineering community, the software community, the academic community, accreditation agencies, and state legislatures. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," the saying goes. Common software development practices are seriously broken, and the cost of not fixing them has become extreme. Traditional thinking would have it that change presents the…“ 3/
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17

„… greatest risk. In software's case, the greatest risk lies with not changing— staying mired in unhealthy, profligate development practices instead of switching to practices that were proven more effective many years ago. How to change? That is the central topic of the rest of the book.“ /4

(Seve McConnell, 1999)

Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
„Recent surveys have found that the most frequent causes of software project tailure have to do with requirements problems—requirements that are too vague to be implemented, that contradict each other, or that change frequently and wreak havoc on the system design. But requirements problems are not new. Back in 1969, Robert Frosch observed that a system could "satisfy the letter of the specification and still not be very satisfactory.“
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
„But this conjecture was already a well-polished chestnut 30 years ago when Gene Bylinsky reported that, "Predictions of businessmen blithely conversing with their omnipotent machines in plain English still get played up regularly in the press." The reality is that defining problems in painstaking detail is difficult work that can't be automated. That aspect of computer programming will not go away. New tools are useful, but not a substitute for clear thinking.“
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17

„[…] the most sophisticated organizations - those that produce the most reliable software for the least cost and with shortest schedules - spend a relatively small percentage of their budgets on the coding part of a project. The least sophisticated organizations spend practically their whole budgets on coding and fixing bugs in their code. Their total budgets are much higher because they don't lay any groundwork for working efficiently.

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Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
„Code-and-fix development continues to be used because it is appealing in two ways. First, it allows the project team to show signs of progress immediately-they can begin moving the stone block 10 meters per day the first day while the more effective team is still out cutting down trees, preparing the roadway for a smooth trip, and showing no visible signs of actually moving the block. If managers and customers aren't very sophisticated about the dynamics of a successful project - and most…“ 1/
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
„… are not - a code-and-fix approach looks appealing because the project gets off to a quick start. The 2nd reason code-and-fix development is appealing is that it requires no training. In the software industry, the average level of training in software engineering is low, and so by default code-and-fix development is the most common approach. It seems attractive at first glance, but it is a form of software fool's gold, and experienced software devs recognize it as having little value.“ /2
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
… and interestingly with AI in the picture this vicious cylcle becomes even easier to implement. 🤔
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17

„An attempt to trade quality for cost or schedule actually results in increased cost and a longer schedule.“

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Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
„Technologies and methodologies that are associated with extravagant productivity claims are called "silver bullets" because they are supposed to slay the werewolf of low productivity. For decades, the software industry has been plagued by claims that the UmptyFratz Innovation dramatically improves development speed. In the 1960s, on-line programming was associated with this claim. In the 1970s, third-generation languages were. In the 1980s, advocates for artificial intelligence…“ 1/
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
„… and CASE tools made this prom-ise. In the 1990s, object-oriented programming was lauded as the next great productivity boon.“ /2
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
„Suppose that a stone-block project team starts out using the brute-force method to move the stone block. After a few days, the team leader sees that progress isn't fast enough to meet the project's goals. Fortunately, he has heard of an amazing animal called an "elephant." An elephant can weigh almost 200 times as much as an adult human being and is extremely powerful. The project leader mounts an expedition to capture and bring back an elephant to help the team…“ 1/
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
„… move the block. After a three-week safari, the team returns with a captive elephant. They harness the magnificent beast to the block and crack the whip. They hold their collective breath, waiting to see just how fast the elephant will move the block. They may even finish ahead of schedule! As they watch, the elephant begins pulling the block forward much faster than the team of humans had ever been able to accomplish. But then, unexpectedly, the elephant rears on…“ 2/
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
„… its hind legs. It breaks its harness, tramples two of its handlers, and runs off at 25 miles per hour, never to be seen again. The stone-block team is dejected: "Maybe we should have spent more time learning how to handle the elephant before we started using him on a real project." They wasted more than 20 percent of their schedule looking for the elephant, lost two teammates, and are no closer to the goal than when they started. That, in a nutshell, is silver bullet syndrome.“ /3
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
„A special kind of silver bullet is forged from attempts to implement organizational process improvement half-heartedly. Some organizations try to implement organizational improvement with buzzwords-TQM, QFD, SW-CMM, Zero Defects, Six Sigma, Continuous Improvement, Statistical Process Control. These are all valuable practices when properly applied - that is, when focusing on the substance of the practice and not just the form. But each of these practices is virtually worthless…“ 1/
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
„… when applied only as a buzzword. Some organizations cycle through the buzzwords in 12-month intervals, as if ritualistically chanting the initials of a current management fad could call forth improvements in quality and productivity. A special place in low-productivity hell is reserved for these organizations. After years of Management By Buzzword (MBB), entire staffs become cynical about organizational improvement initiatives in general, which makes…“ 2/
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
„… escaping code-and-fix development even harder than usual.“ /3
Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17

„The right innovation applied to the right project, supported by appropriate training, and deployed with realistic expectations can be tremendously beneficial when implemented as a long-term strategy. But new innovations aren't magic, and they aren't easy. Silver bullets are fool's gold because they are often embraced with a get-rich-quick attitude. They are adopted to achieve short-term gains, without appropriate…“ 1/

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Show threadAlexander ThurowFeb 17
„… training, and with no management of the risks involved. Like iron pyrite, experienced managers and software developers should know better than to be fooled by them.“ /2