Software's Not a Science? How to Get Off on the Wrong Foot

by Ken Orr

I was reading a book about systems design recently, in which I found the following offhand quote: "Software is not is not a science, therefore...." I was immediately taken aback, since I've been studying systems (software) design for a rather long time, and I have always taken the position that software design and development is (or ought to be) a science -- a place where there are postulates, theorems, rules, and methods that make it possible to consistently allow the building of correct, efficient software, given of course that you followed carefully those postulates, theorems, and so on. Moreover, I believe strongly that software as a science yields better software, not just once in a while, but all the time.