12
THE LAWS OF SOFTWARE PROCESS
Explanation and Observations
These two statements are so self-referential that they can be neither sep-
arated nor disputed. As well as being mutually self-referential (between
statements 1 and 2), they are also internally self-referential (within state-
ments 1 and 2). The only logical definition of an “effective” process is that
it is able to effectively create systems (although there may be other “effec-
tive” attributes). If an effective system is created, then the process used
must have been effective, at least to some extent. Underlying the surface
paradoxes, which always accompany self-referential statements, is a core
truth. Systems development processes cannot be created independently of
their purpose, which ...