[ Sorry if this is offtopic; skud recently discussed this issue WRT perl: http://freshmeat.net/news/2000/02/05/949813140.html ] Slashdot uncovered this tidbit today: http://www.fastcompany.com/online/06/writestuff.html which discusses the space shuttle software group. (This group is the basis of the SEI level 5 certification, and the antithesis of Microserfs.) [...] "Consider these stats : the last three versions of the program -- each 420,000 lines long-had just one error each. The last 11 versions of this software had a total of 17 errors. Commercial programs of equivalent complexity would have 5,000 errors." [...] "For one thing, 12 of the 22 people in the room are women, many of them senior managers or senior technical staff. The on-board shuttle group, with its stability and professionalism, seems particularly appealing to women programmers. " [...] The author goes on to talk about how the environment is rather anti-creative, yet retains "the best people in the industry". The 'particularly appealing' remark sounds rather bold, and I for one don't know how realistic that description is. It is an interesting insight, though, even if it isn't generally true. -- Adam
