Toward A Unified Field Of SE Research And Practice
Ebert suggests that SE can and should mature in a way comparable with other engineering disciplines, by navigating between craft and science. Underlying this idea is that the management of complexity and the application of sound quantitative approaches comprise the right road to maturity for SEas in other engineering disciplmes. But software differs from the objects of other engineering disciplines. According to Fred Brooks, the complexity of software is an essential property-unlike the (accidental) complexity of other engineering and science fields. In his famous 1986 " No Silver Bullet " article,' Brooks analyzes SE and software by identifymg the accidental and the essential properties of the field. Accidental difficulties can be solved by means of new tools and methods, whereas essential difficulties do not lend themselves to technical or methodological solutions. I agree with Brooks. The essential complexity of software has two important aspects: + the accelerating development of information technology, and + the sociocultural constitution of software. Although the impact of the maelstrom-like development of IT seems to be overestimated these days, it is important to note how fast dungs are chanpg; for example, the drop in the price/performance ratio of computer hardware radically exceeds that experienced in other fields. This contributes to software complexity, because basic software elements have no time to stabilize before the next innovation and new areas of application come into play. The bit tends to be the only stable unit of analysis in software. This situation also prolubits SE evolving as a craft, because the necessary software knowledge is constantly changing and thus cannot crystallize into the kind of traditions that are the backbone of traditional crafts.