The Laws of Software Process

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THE LAWS OF SOFTWARE PROCESS

they are usually only useful across restricted problem spaces. The

reason they are useful is that the processes contain the context of

the problem. I call high-level, general processes that do not contain

the context meta processes. They are usually not very useful in

obtaining definitive answers and instead tend to generate more ques-

tions. The highest level of a waterfall life cycle model is an example

with its phases of: Requirements, Design, Code, and Test. While

undoubtedly “correct,” this tends not to be a very useful process.

We have to get requirements for every system; ditto design and code

and test. The process at the life cycle level does not tell us exactly

what to do, and when and where to do it. It does ...