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THE EVOLVING ROLE OF SOFTWARE

Today, software takes on a dual role. It is a product and, at the same

time, the vehicle for delivering a product. As a product, it delivers

the computing potential embodied by computer hardware or, more broadly, a

network of computers that are accessible by local hardware. Whether it

resides within a cellular phone or operates inside a mainframe computer,

software is an information transformer—producing, managing, acquiring,

modifying, displaying, or transmitting information that can be as simple

as a single bit or as complex as a multimedia presentation. As the

vehicle used to deliver the product, software acts as the basis for the

control of the computer (operating systems), the communication of

information (networks), and the creation and control of other programs

(software tools and environments). Software delivers the most important

product of our time—information.

Software transforms personal data (e.g., an individual’s financial

transactions) so that the data can be more useful in a local context; it

manages business information to enhance competitiveness; it provides a

gateway to worldwide information networks (e.g., Internet) and provides

the means for acquiring information in all of its forms.

The role of computer software has undergone significant change over a

time span of little more than 50 years. Dramatic improvements in

hardware performance, profound changes in computing architectures, vast

increases in memory and storage capacity, and a wide variety of exotic

input and output options have all precipitated more sophisticated and

complex computer-based systems.

The lone programmer of an earlier era has been replaced by a team of

software specialists, each focusing on one part of the technology

required to deliver a complex application.

And yet, the same questions asked of the lone programmer are being asked when modern computer-based systems are built:

1)Why does it take so long to get software finished?

2)Why are development costs so high?

3)Why can't we find all the errors before we give the software to customers?

4)Why do we continue to have difficulty in measuring progress as software is being developed?

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