SOFTWARE MYTHS
Many causes of a software affliction can be traced to a mythology that arose during the early history of software development. Unlike ancient myths that often provide human lessons well worth heeding, software myths propagated misinformation and confusion. Software myths had a number of attributes that made them insidious; for instance, they appeared to be reasonable statements of fact (sometimes containing elements of truth), they had an intuitive feel, and they were often promulgated by experienced practitioners who "knew the score."
Today, most knowledgeable professionals recognize myths for what they are— misleading attitudes that have caused serious problems for managers and technical people alike. However, old attitudes and habits are difficult to modify, and remnants of software myths are still believed.
Management myths. Managers with software responsibility, like managers in most disciplines, are often under pressure to maintain budgets, keep schedules from slipping, and improve quality. Like a drowning person who grasps at a straw, a software manager often grasps at belief in a software myth, if that belief will lessen the pressure (even temporarily).
Myth: We already have a book that's full of standards and procedures for building software, won't that provide my people with everything they need to know?
Reality: The book of standards may very well exist, but is it used? Are software practitioners aware of its existence? Does it reflect modern software engineering practice? Is it complete? Is it streamlined to improve time to delivery while still maintaining a focus on quality? In many cases, the answer to all of these questions is "no."
Myth: My people have state-of-the-art software development tools, after all, we buy them the newest computers.
Reality: It takes much more than the latest model mainframe, workstation, or PC to do high-quality software development. Computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools are more important than hardware for achieving good quality and productivity, yet the majority of software developers still do not use them effectively.
Myth: If we get behind schedule, we can add more programmers and catch up (sometimes called the Mongolian horde concept).
Reality: Software development is not a mechanistic process like manufacturing. In the words of Brooks [BRO75]: "adding people to a late software project makes it later." At first, this statement may seem counterintuitive. However, as new people are added, people who were working must spend time educating the newcomers, thereby reducing the amount of time spent on productive development effort. People can be added but only in a planned and well-coordinated manner.
Myth: If I decide to outsource3 the software project to a third party, I can just relax and let that firm build it.
Reality: If an organization does not understand how to manage and control software projects internally, it will invariably struggle when it outsources software projects. Customer myths. A customer who requests computer software may be a person at the next desk, a technical group down the hall, the marketing/sales department, or an outside company that has requested software under contract. In many cases, the customer believes myths about software because software managers and practitioners do little to correct misinformation. Myths lead to false expectations (by the customer) and ultimately, dissatisfaction with the developer.
Myth: A general statement of objectives is sufficient to begin writing programs— we can fill in the details later.
Reality: A poor up-front definition is the major cause of failed software efforts. A formal and detailed description of the information domain, function, behavior, performance, interfaces, design constraints, and validation criteria is essential. These characteristics can be determined only after thorough communication between customer and developer.
Myth: Project requirements continually change, but change can be easily accommodated because software is flexible.
Reality: It is true that software requirements change, but the impact of change varies with the time at which it is introduced. Figure 1.3 illustrates the impact of change. If serious attention is given to up-front definition, early requests for change can be accommodated easily. The customer can review requirements and recommend modifications with relatively little impact on cost. When changes are requested during software design, the cost impact grows rapidly. Resources have been committed and a design framework has been established. Change can cause upheaval that requires additional resources and major design modification, that is, additional cost. Changes in function, performance, interface, or other characteristics during implementation (code and test) have a severe impact on cost. Change, when requested after software is in production, can be over an order of magnitude more expensive than the same change requested earlier.
Practitioner's myths. Myths that are still believed by software practitioners have been fostered by 50 years of programming culture. During the early days of software, programming was viewed as an art form. Old ways and attitudes die hard.
Myth: Once we write the program and get it to work, our job is done.
Reality: Someone once said that "the sooner you begin 'writing code', the longer it'll take you to get done." Industry data ([LIE80], [JON91], [PUT97]) indicate that between 60 and 80 percent of all effort expended on software will be expended after it is delivered to the customer for the first time.
Myth: Until I get the program "running" I have no way of assessing its quality.
Reality: One of the most effective software quality assurance mechanisms can be applied from the inception of a project—the formal technical review. Software reviews (described in Chapter 8) are a "quality filter" that have been found to be more effective than testing for finding certain classes of software defects.
Myth: The only deliverable work product for a successful project is the working program.
Reality: A working program is only one part of a software configuration that includes many elements. Documentation provides a foundation for successful engineering and, more important, guidance for software support.
Myth: Software engineering will make us create voluminous and unnecessary documentation and will invariably slow us down.
Reality: Software engineering is not about creating documents. It is about creating quality. Better quality leads to reduced rework. And reduced rework results in faster delivery times. Many software professionals recognize the fallacy of the myths just described. Regrettably, habitual attitudes and methods foster poor management and technical practices, even when reality dictates a better approach. Recognition of software realities is the first step toward formulation of practical solutions for software engineering.