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Some of us who were there at the time didn't appreciate his contributions, to be honest. Was there anything he was correct about in the long term? (I'm not ask
by setpatchaddress 11y ago
Some of us who were there at the time didn't appreciate his contributions, to be honest. Was there anything he was correct about in the long term?
(I'm not asking rhetorically, I'm genuinely curious. I read "Decline of the American Programmer" at the time it came out, thought it was total rubbish, and didn't bother to read anything else he wrote. Did I miss out?)
- mikestew 11y agoThat was the first Yourdon book I read (still have the hard-cover around somewhere), and because of that it was the last. I had the same impression as you: "sky is falling" garbage, and time has vindicated those of us who thought so. I know of Yourdon and can understand the general appreciation of the man, but because the first impression was last, I just never pursued the rest of his writing. Petty of me, I know, but there's always been a stack of other CS-related books that needed reading.
- hga 11y agoAs mkempe notes, it's probably a generational thing. When I started studying software engineering in 1977 he was the most prominent figure in the books my city's college library had, I learned a lot back then from him and it's still generally relevant, although of course superseded as we figured out more things about the practice of software development ... or forgot rather a lot that had been learned back then.
- adrianhoward 11y agoI'd say so. His Death March is still a very relevant read for example. IMHO anyway.