The Future of Software Engineering (SEIP Keynote)

Summary form only given. No matter what future we may envision, it relies on software that has not yet been written. Even now, software-intensive systems have woven themselves into the interstitial spaces of civilization, and we as individuals and as a species have slowly surrendered ourselves to computing. Looking back, we can identify several major and distinct styles whereby we have built such systems. We have come a long way, and even today, we certainly can name a number of best practices for software development that yield systems of quality. However, by no means can we stand still: the nature of the systems we build continues to change, and as they collectively weave themselves into our live, we must attend not only to the technical elements of software development, we must also attend to human needs. In this presentation we will look at the history of software engineering and offer some grand challenges for the future.