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Software Programming as Craft: The Impact of Agile Engineering Practices

Christine Generali | Jan 22, 2010 No Responses

Jan 222010

Update: Questions on Twitter about this post made us realize that more background from Jens’ call for papers would have clarified the issues in the debate over the current state of programming. In particular, on the bias that’s become entrenched over the past 40 years toward engineering that has created a “disregard for programming [that] has taken deeper and deeper roots in our professional culture”, and has contributed to the rise of the software craftsmanship movement. Please read the full call for papers and consider joining in on what’s shaping up to be a lively debate! The upcoming April 2010 Cutter IT Journal, guest edited by Jens Coldewey, focuses on the current state of programming …

Meaning is a Double-Edged Sword

Tom Welsh | Jan 15, 2010 1 Response

Jan 152010

I couldn’t agree more with Ken Orr’s remarks about the vague usage of terms that one might expect to have clearly-defined meanings. But this is what you must expect at the interface between the worlds of human enterprise and scientific precision. There is a theory – which I find intuitively plausible – that natural language evolved largely to help people inspire and motivate others. Or, if you prefer to look at things that way, to manipulate and exploit them. Wherever you see natural language (English, French, Russian, etc.) being spoken under normal everyday conditions, you will see brands being talked up, deals offered, and haggling engaged in. Right from childhood, “smooth talkers” have a definite …

A Hunger for Meaning

Ken Orr | Jan 14, 2010 2 Responses

Jan 142010

The other day, Ron Blitstein posted here about the term “SOA”: The term “SOA” has become very confusing and possesses all the clarity of Web 2.0 (another term that drives me to distraction). There are a number of words and phrases that I believe confuse those of us in enterprise architecture and/or systems development. The phrases that have most bothered me for the past few years are use cases, nonfunctional requirements, and lights on applications. Let me start with use cases. My old friend James Robertson, one of the deans of requirements engineering, says that he has found nearly 40 different definitions of use case in modern systems literature. I can’t say that I have …

It’s About “Good Software Architecture” not “SOA”

Ron Blitstein | Jan 12, 2010 4 Responses

Jan 122010

I was recently involved in a debate with my colleagues on the Cutter Business Technology Council about whether SOA has reached a tipping point. I do not believe that such a point has been reached. SOA isn’t a product, technology, or service. It is just a body of useful techniques for designing shareable, reusable, interoperable Web services. Perhaps the acronym should really be “GSA” or “good software architecture,” as the “debate” is really about the challenge and promise of good software architecture. The term “SOA” has become very confusing and possesses all the clarity of Web 2.0 (another term that drives me to distraction). Successful SOA is really about rearchitecting the application landscape and, as …

Self-discipline and Self-organization

Jim Highsmith | Jan 11, 2010 4 Responses

Jan 112010

The notion of a self-organizing team runs deeply in the agile community. However, there is a flip side to self-organization, one which agile teams often forget—self-discipline. Just as freedom and responsibility go hand-in-hand in a democracy, so do self-discipline and self-organization. Companies cannot empower teams that do not want to be empowered—those who are populated with individuals who refuse to accept any accountability for results, those who refuse to confront reality, those who gravitate to their cubicles and refuse to engage with other team members, those who are unwilling to accept team decisions, and those who disrespect colleagues. Jim Collin (Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t) presents three key …

Predictions Gone Wild!

Anne Mullaney | Jan 5, 2010 4 Responses

Jan 052010

Cutter Senior Consultants have made lots of predictions for 2010 (and the years that follow). I’m sure you’ve also seen many predictions from others. And you’ve probably had your fill of “a look back at 2009″ and “best of” articles. So we thought it would be fun to add a twist to all this soothsaying: A fill-in-the-blank prediction. Sort of like Mad-Libs, but without the parts of speech. Here’s our generic, reusable template for business technology predictions (v2010.0). Complete your prediction in the comments. Or make a video of it and post it on the Cutter Facebook page. Let’s see what happens! This past year we saw the maturation/saturation/stagnation of __________________1.0/2.0/3.0. We’re now squarely entering …

Even more predictions

Anne Mullaney | Jan 5, 2010 2 Responses

Jan 052010

Over the last week we’ve received predictions from more Cutter Senior Consultants. Here’s a preview of the latest additions: Rebecca Herold: Bigger privacy breaches than any that have occurred so far on social media sites will occur as a result of no information security or privacy pre-planning at many to most of these organizations. James Odell: systems will no longer primarily be top down. Instead, as individuals, small groups, and organizations interact around the world, technology must support approaches that are more side-by-side. Rob Austin: 2010 will be the year in which mobile devices become the client device of choice in many enterprises. Jim Highsmith: A small, but significant, number of organizations will “get it” when …

Partnering in Outsourcing Deals: Is It a Myth or a Genuine Strategy?

Sara Cullen | Dec 29, 2009 5 Responses

Dec 292009

“Partnering” — besides being a mandatory buzzword — is a curious term. Nowadays, instead of taking over a company, we partner with it. We don’t sell anything anymore; we partner. And now, rather than outsourcing, we create strategic partnerships. While the goal of an amicable and mutually rewarding relationship is admirable, what each party truly expects from the other in an outsourcing arrangement formed under a “partnering vision” is quite different. The client often wants a “well-behaving provider.” But what the client means by “well-behaving” is a provider that accepts nearly infinite scope creep without a commensurate increase in price, immediately reacts to the client’s ad hoc needs (at no charge), and performs what the …

More Predictions

Anne Mullaney | Dec 24, 2009 3 Responses

Dec 242009

The crystal ball gazing continues. Here are more excerpts from Cutter Senior Consultants’ predictions for 2010 and beyond. Dave Rooney: Agile Software Development will follow the same pattern as two other game-changing trends — Relational Database Management Systems and Object-Oriented Programming over the upcoming decade. Claude Baudoin: Expect contractors and consultants to be in demand, and many of them will be ex-employees who, having found their past employer’s loyalty in short supply, will now be more interested in being their own boss than in rejoining as an employee. Ken Collier: Although Agile adoptions will proliferate, we will see an increase Agile project failures due to misunderstanding, misapplication, and misguided attempts to follow an “agile recipe”. …

Cutter Experts Predict Trends for 2010 and Beyond

Anne Mullaney | Dec 23, 2009 2 Responses

Dec 232009

With the new year upon us, we asked Cutter’s Senior Consultants and Fellows for their business technology predictions. Their perspectives — as always — are quite thoughtful, thought-provoking, and varied. Projections cover the changing role of the CIO, what will happen in enterprise architecture, the increasing adoption of agile, the explosion of cloud computing, the impact of green initiatives, and more. We’re posting all the predictions on the Cutter website as they come in. Here are some excerpts: Israel Gat: I expect 2010 to be the first year of a prolonged golden age. San Murugesan: In 2010 and beyond, we will see growing interest and major developments in cloud computing, green IT, and mobile systems …

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Software Programming as Craft: The Impact of Agile Engineering Practices

Meaning is a Double-Edged Sword

A Hunger for Meaning

It’s About “Good Software Architecture” not “SOA”

Self-discipline and Self-organization

Predictions Gone Wild!

Even more predictions

Partnering in Outsourcing Deals: Is It a Myth or a Genuine Strategy?

Cutter Experts Predict Trends for 2010 and Beyond

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