Currently available computer software, in general, fails to meet minimum reasonable quality standards. Due to the extent to which many aspects of contemporary society have become dependent on software, this lack of quality represents substantial loss of revenue and potential loss of property for users, as well as potential harm to human beings, including possible loss of life. In this lecture Dr. Oliver describes why and how we have arrived at this sad state of affairs, exposes many myths perpetrated by "software types" to cover up the mess, and outlines a strategy for recovering from the status quo. 

Dr. Oliver has more than 31 years experience in the software business, including a mix of industrial and academic assignments. He earned the B.A. degree, with a double major in Mathematics and Philosophy, at Morningside College, in Sioux City IA, in 1970; the M.S. in Computer Science at the U. of Kansas in 1975; and the Ph.D. in Computer Science at Colorado State University in 1988. After nine years on the faculty at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obispo, he took early retirement to return to Colorado and work on special projects, including the articulation of methods to improve software quality. Most of his software development experience has been with complex Concurrent and Real Time Systems (CRTS), including extensive work in Computer Communication Systems and Simulation. He has worked in Software Quality Assurance, developed a practical Software Development Process, and articulated the application of Deming's principles to Software Development. Dr. Oliver has served in many capacities for ACM, currently as Vice Chair for Liaison for SIGAda.

Tired of SUCKY SOFTWARE QUALITY? 
Check out www.caressCorp.com and follow the link to The Oliver Academy.

This has not gone un-noticed; Fred Brooks and Laura Wienert have both addressed these problems and Scientific American has published an article titled "The Software Crisis". Software developers get no training in how to accomplish their job, and get the wrong education for it. Dr. Oliver dates the beginning of software as 1954 when John Backus developed Fortran. (Some members of the audience disputed this, claiming that the earlier move from machine code to assembly language was the proper origin.) 

Dr. Oliver says you know something is wrong when students are taking Computer Science so they won't have to take math. He rates the current software industry as having no good management, no professionalism, with the wrong personnel, using the wrong economic model and dealing with customers who have poor consumer awareness. Myths abound. Some of them are: Software can't be done right. Time-to-market is crucial. Standards can't be developed because the (software) technology evolves too quickly. We have to use C because it is more efficient and cost effective. Quality is not important. The best software is developed by individuals (cowboys). 

To resolve these problems, Dr. Oliver said we should follow the lead of Dr. Deming and focus on quality. We should focus on teamwork and use the Capability Maturity Model. The current entire industry approach should be scrapped and redone. The current "Computer Science" industry should be scrapped and a new well-conceived software profession should be developed with a new economic model. Consumer education should be improved. 

W. Edward Deming was born in Sioux City Iowa in the year 1900. He played a major role in improving munitions quality for the U.S. Government during World War II. After the war, the Japanese discovered him and revamped their own industry. They established the Deming Award. Deming's approach featured 14 points to achieve improved quality and there have been a number of books by others based on his principles. Dr. Oliver has applied these principles to achieving software quality. He believes the Capability Maturity Model developed by the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University is one of the most important developments in efforts to improve quality and says that where it has been implemented impressive results have been achieved. It is primarily used by U.S. Government contractors and is generally ignored by the commercial sector except for the aircraft division of Boeing. He believes that the government's current fascination with Commercial Off-The-Shelf Software (COTS) is a step backward. 

Dr. Oliver said that software development personnel need mathematical, scientific, and engineering rigor. He recommended scrapping the current undergraduate computer science degree and substituting traditional courses leading to a traditional undergraduate degree in science or engineering followed by a post graduate internship and training in computer science and software development. He believes there should be professional certification and licensing for software developers including ongoing training and re-certification. There should be a parallel program for management. He also believes that there should be a new economic model, but for this provided a large "?". He says that consumers should be educated to demand correctness, utility, usability and truth in advertising and should reject consumer-funded maintenance. 

During the presentation there was considerable interactive discussion between Dr. Oliver and the audience. It was mentioned that the commercial computing world was going in the opposite direction to his recommendations and things seemed to be getting worse rather than better. There was disagreement on certification because some current approaches were regarded as not being done well, and Dr. Oliver agreed with many of these points. The meeting was lively and Dr. Oliver gave a spirited defense of his positions. Readers should see his website www.caressCorp.com for more details. 

This was the sixth meeting of the Chapter's year and was attended by about 22 persons. 
Mike Walsh, LA ACM Secretary