The Best Influences on Software Engineering

C o p y r i g h t © 2 0 0 0 S t e v e n C . M c C o n n e l l . A l l R i g h t s R e s e r v e d . I wanted to get some perspective on the best influences we’ve seen during software engineering’s first 50 years. After drafting an initial list of influences, I turned to our advisory boards. IEEE Software has active editorial and industrial advisory boards comprising leading experts from around the world. What follows is our discussion of the best influences on software engineering. As you will see, we had some significant differences of opinion! Any list like this is bound to contain significant subjectivity. As board member Marten Thomas pointed out, this discussion might not tell us much about software engineering’s prospects, but it does say a lot about our attitudes at the beginning of the 21st century.