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- Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
- Path: sparky!uunet!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!wupost!monsanto.com!bigez!dmmatt
- From: dmmatt@bigez (Mike Mattix)
- Subject: Re: Debugging the process
- Message-ID: <1992Dec31.112259.1@bigez>
- Lines: 44
- Sender: news@tin.monsanto.com (USENET News System)
- Organization: Monsanto Agricultural Company
- References: <1992Dec30.185928.367@cs.rit.edu>
- Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 11:22:59 GMT
-
- In article <1992Dec30.185928.367@cs.rit.edu>, jeh@cs.rit.edu (James E Heliotis) writes:
- >
- > This is the classic argument against software engineering process
- > standards, but let's face it; not all of us are good enough to satisfy
- > the above quote. We still need a defined process to make the mediocre
- > people somewhat productive, both in engineering and management. I also
- > suspect, that if the good people followed the same processes, that this
- > would also facilitate communication between the good ones and the
- > mediocre ones.
- >
- > In summary, 'good' engineers may not require 'good' management, but
- > good management is required for the engineering process to run smoothly,
- > and that's what you need to pull the majority of the engineers into your
- > program.
- >
- >
-
- The problem is how to add the 'good' management without putting roadblocks
- in the way of the 'good' engineers. A couple of months ago a post mentioned
- a specific DOD Software Development Policy and another poster thought that
- that policy's main objective was to drown the software development process
- in so much red tape as to mask the amount of time the actual development
- took. While this is sarcastic, quite frequently management in the effort
- to 'help' improve the not-so-good engineers, constrict the 'good' engineers
- by the overhead introduced into the process. I have been in this business
- 20+ years and we are still raving about how this new 'control' technology
- will improve the accuracy and timeliness of the systems we are building.
- I submit we will still be raving about the current trendy technology 10
- years from now and will still be having the same problems. The only
- improvements in accuracy and timeliness of systems in the last 20 years
- can be traced directly back to technological breakthroughs not new
- project management/software engineering procedures. I am refering to
- on-line development vs batch development and Desktop development vs
- mainframe development. These developments have impacted the ability
- of software engineers to deliver cost-effective systems that the users
- need far more than any 'methodology' of the last 20 years.
-
-
- --
- Mike Mattix
- Agricultural Group of Monsanto
- P.O. Box 174
- Luling, LA 70070
- INTERNET Address: dmmatt@bigez.monsanto.com
-