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research-article

Prospects for an Engineering Discipline of Software

Author:

Mary ShawAuthors Info & Claims

IEEE Software, Volume 7, Issue 6

Pages 15 - 24

https://doi.org/10.1109/52.60586

Published: 01 November 1990 Publication History

Abstract

Although software engineering is not yet a true engineering discipline, it has the potential to become one. Older engineering fields are examined to ascertain the character that software engineering might have. The current state of software technology is discussed, covering information processing as an economic force, the growing role of software in critical applications, the maturity of development techniques, and the scientific basis for software engineering practice. Five basic steps that the software engineering profession must take to become a true engineering discipline are described. They are: understanding the nature of expertise, recognizing different ways to get information, encouraging routine practice, expecting professional specializations, and improving the coupling between science and commercial practice.

References

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3. D.L. Parnas, "Education for Computing Professionals," Computer, Jan. 1990, pp. 17-22.

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4. H. Straub, A History of Civil Engineering: An Outline from Ancient to Modern Times, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1964.

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8. E. Levin, "Grand Challenges to Computational Science," Comm. ACM, Dec. 1989, pp. 1,456-1,457.

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Cited By

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cover image IEEE Software

IEEE Software Volume 7, Issue 6

November 1990

97 pages

ISSN:0740-7459

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Copyright © Copyright © 1990 IEEE. All Rights Reserved.

Publisher

IEEE Computer Society Press

Washington, DC, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 November 1990

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Cited By

Kang EShaw MEdwards JTaeumel M(2024)tl;dr: Chill, y’all: AI Will Not Devour SEProceedings of the 2024 ACM SIGPLAN International Symposium on New Ideas, New Paradigms, and Reflections on Programming and Software10.1145/3689492.3689816(303-315)Online publication date: 17-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3689492.3689816
Shaw MPetre MCai YChaudron MKang Evan der Hoek A(2024)Design Spaces and How Software Designers Use Them: a samplerProceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Designing Software10.1145/3643660.3643941(1-8)Online publication date: 15-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643660.3643941
Melegati JNascimento NChanin RSales AWiese IGraziotin DNolte A(2024)Exploring potential implications of intelligent tools for human aspects of software engineeringProceedings of the 2024 IEEE/ACM 17th International Conference on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering10.1145/3641822.3641877(121-132)Online publication date: 14-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3641822.3641877
Chaves LCastro ROliveira FTiago L(2023)Improvements of the Software Quality Assurance Process Towards Issues’ Effectiveness in a Global Software Development Environment.Proceedings of the 2023 9th International Conference on Computer Technology Applications10.1145/3605423.3605424(192-200)Online publication date: 10-May-2023
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Nam DMyers BVasilescu BHellendoorn VGrundy JPollock LPenta M(2023)Improving API Knowledge Discovery with ML: A Case Study of Comparable API MethodsProceedings of the 45th International Conference on Software Engineering10.1109/ICSE48619.2023.00161(1890-1906)Online publication date: 14-May-2023
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Shaw M(2022)Myths and mythconceptions: what does it mean to be a programming language, anyhow?Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/34809474:HOPL(1-44)Online publication date: 4-Apr-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3480947
Torkar RFuria CFeldt Rde Oliveira Neto FGren LLenberg PErnst N(2022)A Method to Assess and Argue for Practical Significance in Software EngineeringIEEE Transactions on Software Engineering10.1109/TSE.2020.304899148:6(2053-2065)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2022
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Chatterjee AGuizani MStevens CEmard JMay MBurnett MAhmed ISarma A(2021)AIDProceedings of the 43rd International Conference on Software Engineering10.1109/ICSE43902.2021.00128(1423-1435)Online publication date: 22-May-2021
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Ciancarini PMasyagin SSucci GKell SVerna D(2020)Software design as story telling: reflecting on the work of Italo CalvinoProceedings of the 2020 ACM SIGPLAN International Symposium on New Ideas, New Paradigms, and Reflections on Programming and Software10.1145/3426428.3426925(195-208)Online publication date: 18-Nov-2020
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Maguire JDraper SCutts QCarter JBecker BBrown N(2019)What Do We Do When We Teach Software Engineering?Proceedings of the 2019 Conference on United Kingdom & Ireland Computing Education Research10.1145/3351287.3351295(1-7)Online publication date: 5-Sep-2019
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