Invited Lecture : Notions of 'Theory' and their Practical Consequences in the Discipline of Software 'Engineering' (including Information Systems Design)

• Published in: South African computer journal = Suid-Afrikaanse rekenaartydskrif Vol. 32; no. 2; pp. 293 - 322
• Main Author: Gruner, Stefan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Makhanda South African Computer Society (SAICSIT) 01.12.2020; South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists
• ISSN: 1015-7999; 2313-7835
• DOI: 10.18489/sacj.v32i2.898

Preliminaries. In the context of the AISSAC seminar on information systems, to which this invited lecture was given, it is presumed throughout the following considerations that: • contemporary information systems are software systems, whereas traditional libraries of printed books (which are indeed pre-electronic information systems) are not considered here; • design and development of information systems (from capturing the initial requirements to implementation and deployment) are software engineering activities; • it is therefore justified to speak about 'software engineering' (rather than about 'information systems') throughout this lecture, • whereby the notion of 'information' is assumed to be already 'basically understood' (and is thus not subject to further science-philosophical definitions or critique in this contribution).