Software management—A survey of the practice in 1980

Abstract

The primary thrust of this paper is to explore many of the problems currently plaguing software development activities and to propose how some of the recently developed management practices may be employed in dealing with them. The practices described range from people organizations (e.g., chief programmer teams) to fully automated engineering tools (e.g., software requirements engineering methodology). A number of techniques are presented. These include methods for coping with communications problems in the requirements definition activity, for evolving a facility which will help increase the productivity of software designers and proggammers, and for maintaining a high degree of visibility during the elusive unit design code and test phase of a project. A very practical view of the management problems and suggested approaches is presented. Key principles, potentials "pitfalls," and unresolved concerns are addressed from a viewpoint of where the state of the art is today and where the industry appears to be heading in the mid-1980's.