Some conclusions from an experiment in software engineering techniques

In two earlier reports we have suggested some techniques to be used producing software with many programmers. The techniques were especially suitable for software which would exist in many versions due to modifications in methods or applications. These techniques have been taught in an undergraduate course and used in an experimental project in that course. The purpose of this report is to describe the results that have been obtained and to discuss some conclusions which we have reached. The experiment was completely uncontrolled, the programmers generally inexperienced and poor, and the programming system used was not designed for the task. The numerical data presented below have no real value. We include them primarily as an illustration of the type of result that can be obtained by use of the techniques described in the earlier reports. We consider these results a drastic improvement over the state of the art. Major changes in a system can be confined to well-defined, small, subsystems. No intellectual effort is required in the final assembly or "integration" phase.