Is it really valid to conclude that software engineering is diseased based on one propagating mistake? Could you provide other examples of flawed scholarship in the field? (I’m not saying I disagree, but I don’t think your argument is particularly convincing.)
Can you comment on Making Software by Andy Oram and Greg Wilson (Eds.)? What do you think of Jorge Aranda and Greg Wilson’s blog, It Will Never Work in Theory?
To anyone interested in the subject, I recommend Greg Wilson’s talk on the subject, which you can view here.
Thanks for taking the time to reply thoughtfully. That was some good reading, especially for a non-expert like me. Here are my thoughts after taking the time to read through all of those comment threads and your original blog post. I’ll admit that I haven’t read the original McConnell chapter yet, so keep that in mind. Also, keep in mind that I’m trying to improve the quality of this discussion, not spark an argument we’ll regret. This is a topic dear to my heart and I’m really glad it ended up on LW.
Based on Steve McConnell’s blog post (and the ensuing comment thread), I think the order-of-magnitude claim is reasonably well-supported—there are a handful of mediocre studies that triangulate to a reasonable belief in the order-of-magnitude claim. In none of those comment threads are you presenting a solid argument for the claim being not well-supported. Instead, you are mostly putting forth the claim that the citations were sloppy and “unfair.” You seem to be somewhat correct—which Steve acknowledged—but I think you’re overreaching with your conclusions.
We could look at your own arguments in the same light. In all those long comment threads, you failed to engage in a useful discussion, relying on argumentative “cover fire” that distracted from the main point of discussion (i.e. instead of burying your claims in citations, you’re burying your claims in unrelated claims.) You claim that “The software profession has a problem, widely recognized but which nobody seems willing to do anything about,” despite that you acknowledge that Wilson et al are indeed doing quite a bit about it. This looks a lot like narrative/confirmation bias, where you’re a detective unearthing a juicy conspiracy. Many of your points are valid, and I’m really, really glad for your more productive contributions to the discussion, but you must admit that you are being stubborn about the McConnell piece, no?
Regarding Greg Wilson’s frosty tone, I don’t think that has anything to do with the fact that you disagree about what constitutes good evidence. He’s very clearly annoyed that your article is accusing Steve McConnell of “pulling a fast one.” But really, the disagreement is about your rather extreme take on what evidence we can consider.
Considering how consistently you complained about the academic paywalls, it’s strange that you’re putting the substance of your piece behind your own paywall. This post is a good example of a LessWrong post that isn’t a thinly veiled advert for a book.
I’m not disagreeing altogether or trying to attack you, but I do think you have pretty extreme conclusions. Your views of the “10x” chapter and the “SEL” chapter are not enough to conclude that the broad discipline is “diseased.” I think your suggestion that Making Software is only paying “overt homage” to real scholarly discipline is somewhat silly and the two reasons you cite aren’t enough to damn it so thoroughly. Moreover, your criticism should (and does, unintentionally) augment and refine Making Software, instead of throwing it away completely because of a few tedious criticisms.