Re: Development: A Structured Problem Area?

Quoting Ron Jeffries <jeffries-GO6AC1RsmrqsTnJN9+BGXg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

> This calls into some question the notion of "Repeatable" which is offered
> by the CMM as a desirable thing. It might not even be a /possible/ thing,
> much less desirable.

I think of the CMM as a way-station on the journey to automation. Anything that
is rule-based will be CMM-able and eventually mechanized. 

The best argument I've heard against CMM and automation is Dave and Andy talking
about the Dreyfus skill model because it opposes a pattern-recognition model
against the rule-based model. I think it is indisputable that good programmers
don't consciously follow rules and I think it very likely that what they do,
instead, is recognize patterns and respond based on a wealth of tacit past
experience. If pattern-recognition is required for developing software, then
the CMM and most contemporary automation attempts are doomed. However, if
pattern-recognition is merely the way good programmers function, but rule-based
systems can adequately approximate the results of good programmers, then we'd
better get interested in requirements elicitation and user interface design
very quickly. Thus I'm interested in potential non-linear and stochastic
aspects of software development that could prevent automation.

Derek Richardson


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