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THE LAWS OF SOFTWARE PROCESS
addresses the problem (requirements) or solution (design, code) or proof
(test) domains. Therefore the actual work being done does not follow a con-
vention of abstraction from the problem through the solution domain as
expected by the Waterfall (and most other) life cycle models.
However, if we take a “moving average” of the locus of attention partic-
ularly over a larger period of time, e.g., several months, we will usually see
that the projects on average and as a whole do tend to follow a general-to-
detail and problem-to-solution trend. The implications of this are quite sim-
ple: generalized life cycle models are suitable for general trends in
projects, much less suitable for detailed task assignment, and may not ...