The Physics of Software

Got a chance to read a couple of chapters from Scott Rosenberg's 'Dreaming In Code'..

Its an account of a group of software developers led by industry legend Mitch Kapor, who are working on 'Chandler', a modern personal information manager.
The basic point that Rosenberg has tried to drive home is that writing software is hard! Even if you manage to round up a bunch of code jocks in a room & tell them to write code, more often than not, most projects run behind schedule..

In his book, The Mythical Man Month, Frederick Brooks writes about how adding more programmers to an already delayed project delays it further. This went on to become a law much like 'Moore's Law' that was proven by IBM's mega projects back in the 70's.

Recent release of the much delayed Windows Vista maybe taken as a fitting example of this predicament.

"The problem is that software is not a thing, not a preexisting phenomenon of the universe; it's a product of the human imagination. One of the ideas that stayed with me most strongly is that computer science today accepts the file system as if it were some law of nature, and it's not. Every aspect of software is a human construct. The fact that we have created this pile of
abstractions, one on top of another, and that it works most of the time—and produces amazing results—doesn't mean the whole enterprise is a fait accompli and must always be that way. So, personally, I don't believe there is such a thing, or could be such a thing, as the physics of software. But accepting that there couldn't be such a thing has implications that are
disturbing to people in the software field." -- Scott Rosenberg

Complete interview is here.

The WOW Is NOW

After 5 years & $7 Billion, Microsoft has finally come out with 'the biggest software release ever'. With a boisterous $500 million marketing campaign, it has launched Vista for consumers.




While product reviewers may gush & drool over its rich graphics intense user interface & robust security features, operating system releases have lost their glory. Mr Ballmer hopes to sell 5 times as many Vistas as he did Windows95 & thrice as many as WindowsXP.Lets wait & watch how versatile he is at predicting the future.

With a new software fabric in the making with buzzwords auch as SaaS(Software as a Service) & SOA(Services Oriented Architecture), a shrink wrapped OS package has really lost its sheen. It doesn't help that open source is being preferred by governments in many countries as well as developers worldwide.

But does Vista have anything new to offer.. Microsoft would love to make you believe that there is but the truth is that there are a lot of 'enhancements' & pretty impressive ones from what I've gathered but not a lot of new 'killer features'.

From the snapshots, the graphical UI seems to be absolutely cutting edge & hopefully will bring rich visual experiences into the mainstream. MAC cultists will go ho-hum! but we can spend aeons comparing the two.

Why is no one lining up for Vista in San Francisco?

[image source: engadget]