The End of Software Engineering and the Start of Economic-Cooperative Gaming

"Software engineering" was introduced as a model for the field of software development in 1968. This paper reconsiders that model in the light of four decades of experience, and finds it lacking in its ability to explain project success and failures, predict important issues in running projects, and help practitioners formulate effective strategies on the fly. An alternative underlying model for software development is described: Software development is a series of goal-directed, resource-limited, cooperative games of invention and communication. The primary goal of each game is the production and deployment of a software system; the residue of the game is a set of markers to assist the players of the next game. People use markers and props to remind, inspire and inform each other in getting to the next move in the game. The next game is an alteration of the system or the creation of a neighboring system. Each game therefore has as a secondary goal to create an advantageous ...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2004
• Where: COMSIS
• Authors: Alistair Cockburn
• Keywords: COMSIS 2004, Game, Software, Software Development