A site devoted to discussing techniques that promote quality and ethical practices in software development.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

The Problem with Programming

This is the title of the latest interview with the father of C++, the legendary Bjarne Stroustrup. Below are snippets from this article.

When he was asked why most software is so bad. Here is his responses,
The structure is appalling, and the programmers clearly didn't think deeply about correctness, algorithms, data structures, or maintainability. Most people don't actually read code....

that "we" (that is, we software developers) are in a permanent state of emergency, grasping at straws to get our work done. We perform many minor miracles through trial and error, excessive use of brute force, and lots and lots of testing, but--so often--it's not enough.

So very true observation. So how can we fix this, when asked, and here are his comments:
In theory, the answer is simple: educate our software developers better, use more-appropriate design methods, and design for flexibility and for the long haul.

Reward correct, solid, and safe systems. Punish sloppiness. In reality, that's impossible. People reward developers who deliver software that is cheap, buggy, and first. ....

On the other hand, just muddling along is expensive, dangerous, and depressing. Significant improvements are needed, and they can only come gradually. They must come on a broad front; no single change is sufficient.


Yes perfect observation and comments. I am seeing this kind of practice on daily basis.

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