jaydubya’s blog

I found an interesting article through Digg that describes the history and projected future of software development.  The article explains that in the 1980s an civil/mechanical engineering model called Waterfall was applied to software development, but it failed because it was too rigid and assumed that a perfect program could be coded in the first attempt.  The article suggests a different model called Agile Methods, which stresses simplicity, feedback, and adaptation.

The article also points out an interesting evolution in the way successful programs are written.  With today’s high power programming languages and huge associated libraries, two or three highly talented programmers can out code a large group of mediocre programmers.  The article suggests that because of this, talented programmers can expect increasing salaries and job opportunities in the near future, whereas the average programmer may have to look for jobs elsewhere.  The article also suggests that software development off-shoring will not see any substantial increases in the near future.