Look out behind: when the symptoms of software engineering troubles get more attention than the problems do

MIS's initial efforts in software engineering should be to differentiate between problems and symptoms of problems. Real problems do not require one to ask 'Why is it so?', and real problems can be divided into two subgroups: environmental problems and fundamental problems. Symptoms,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inComputerworld Vol. 22; no. 42; p. 97
Main Author Yuval, Asher
Format Magazine Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Computerworld, Inc 17.10.1988
Subjects
Computer programming
Data processing departments
Design and construction
Electronic data processing departments
Management
Management information systems
MIS
Problem Solving
Software
Software Design
Software Engineering
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Summary:MIS's initial efforts in software engineering should be to differentiate between problems and symptoms of problems. Real problems do not require one to ask 'Why is it so?', and real problems can be divided into two subgroups: environmental problems and fundamental problems. Symptoms, such as software cost and schedule estimation and lack of experienced professionals, must be identified as such before MIS can address a problem. Solutions, however, should not be confined solely to problems. Symptoms can usually be solved more quickly, which makes them a smart place to allocate resources when concerns such as deadlines are relevant.
ISSN:0010-4841