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Software Evolution as the Key to Productivity

  • Conference paper
Radical Innovations of Software and Systems Engineering in the Future (RISSEF 2002)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 2941))

Abstract

Despite the existence of a seemingly continuous stream of new technologies and methods, software productivity remains universally unimpressive. We argue that, as long as industry remains focused on short-term goals, and maintains a technology-centric view of software development, no progress will be made. A clear symptom of this problem is the fact that the metaphors we apply to software development are largely obsolete. Instead of thinking about software as we do about bridges, buildings or hardware components, we should encourage a view of software as a living and evolving entity that is developed and maintained by people. We begin with some assertions that are intended as food for thought. We continue by reviewing what we consider to be some of the key difficulties with software development today. We conclude with a few recommendations for research into software practices that take evolution into account.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bern, Switzerland

    Oscar Nierstrasz

Authors
  1. Oscar Nierstrasz
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Computer Science, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany

    Martin Wirsing

  2. Institut für Informatik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München,  

    Alexander Knapp

  3. Dipartimento di Informatica, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia, Via Torino 155, 30172, Venezia Mestre, Italy

    Simonetta Balsamo

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© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Nierstrasz, O. (2004). Software Evolution as the Key to Productivity. In: Wirsing, M., Knapp, A., Balsamo, S. (eds) Radical Innovations of Software and Systems Engineering in the Future. RISSEF 2002. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2941. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-24626-8_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-24626-8_19

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-21179-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-24626-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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