[SystemSafety] Bossavit's Leprechauns book

[Les Chambers]

Derek
Thanks but Shock horror.  Sounds like he is devaluing some of the fundamental truths of SE. 
For example the ‘rising cost’ concept is the basis for spending millions on V&V. Righteous 
dollars.
Have we a tech Trump amongst us pedaling fake news with honeyed words?
Seriously though, this type of BS does not advance the SE canon. 
Bin it!
Les

> Les,
> 
> > Is Bossavit supporting or rejecting the legends. Having read his book, what does he want 
you to
> > do with the information.
> 
>  From the open chapter:
> 
> "The software profession has a problem, widely recognized but
> which nobody seems willing to do much about. You can think of
> this problem as a variant of the well known ¿telephone game¿,
> where some trivial rumor is repeated from one person to the next
> until it has become distorted beyond recognition and blown up
> out of all proportion.
> 
> Unfortunately, the objects of this telephone game are generally
> considered cornerstone truths of the discipline, to the point that
> their acceptance now hinders further progress.
> 
> It is not that these claims are outlandish in themselves; they
> started as somewhat reasonable hypotheses. The problem is that
> they have become entrenched as ¿fact¿ supposedly supported
> by ¿research¿, and attained this elevated status in spite of being
> merely anecdotal.
> 
> How we got there
> 
> One of the ways that anecdote persists is by dressing itself up
> in the garments of proper scholarship. Suppose you come across
> the following claim for the first time:..."
> 
> > Les
> > 
> >> Les,
> >>
> >>> PBL
> >>> Please explain. Is Bossavit denigrating these concepts by calling them memes, myths or
> > legends? Is he
> >>
> >> Peter has jumbled together commentary on Bossavit's book, commentary
> >> on what people on this list have been talking about and his own views.
> >>
> >> Bossavit writes in a very readable style and it is clear what
> >> his discovered (or rather not discovered, i.e., data backing up
> >> the claims investigated).
> >>
> >> -- 
> >> Derek M. Jones           Software analysis
> >> tel: +44 (0)1252 520667  blog:shape-of-code.coding-guidelines.com
> >> _______________________________________________
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> > 
> > 
> > 
> > --
> > Les Chambers
> > les at chambers.com.au
> > +61 (0)412 648 992
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> -- 
> Derek M. Jones           Software analysis
> tel: +44 (0)1252 520667  blog:shape-of-code.coding-guidelines.com



--
Les Chambers
les at chambers.com.au
+61 (0)412 648 992