3

Fundamentals of an Engineering Approach

Engineering in different disciplines varies. Bridge building is not the same as aerospace engineering, and neither is it the same as electrical engineering or chemical engineering, but all of these disciplines share some common ideas. They are all firmly grounded in scientific rationalism and take a pragmatic, empirical approach to making progress.

If we are to achieve our goal of trying to define a collection of long-lasting thoughts, ideas, practices, and behaviors that we could collectively group together under the name software engineering, these ideas must be fairly fundamental to the reality of software development and robust in the face of change.

An Industry of Change?

We talk a lot about change ...

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