The Black Liszt

Summary: Bad Software Metaphors lead to bad results

Most of the people who talk about software can’t create it. They can’t even read it with understanding. So how is anyone who not only can’t write software but can’t even see it supposed to understand it, much less manage it?

https://www.blackliszt.com/2016/12/managing-what-you-cant-see.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/04/managing-software-thats-invisible-to-you.html

A standard way about talking about software has emerged among the people to whom it’s invisible: physical-world metaphors. The metaphors are so ubiquitous that they are also used by programmers.

Because the metaphors are nearly always seriously inappropriate and people act as though they are great, horrible things result.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2016/11/software-myths-and-myth-conceptions.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2021/09/the-catastrophic-effect-of-bad-metaphors-in-software.html

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could churn out software as reliably and predictably as a factory?

https://www.blackliszt.com/2012/04/how-effective-are-software-factories.html

The building metaphor is widely used. Buildings have architects, and so does software.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2018/12/software-planning-is-impossible.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/06/software-myth-conceptions-building-materials.html

You architect and build and house. It’s a passive physical object. Software is NOT a physical object; it’s mostly is a set of actions to be taken by a computer.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2021/07/fundamental-concept-software-is-not-a-passive-thing-it-is-actions.html

The notion that the core organizing principle of software is that it's a collection of “objects” has had catastrophic effects.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2021/11/the-promising-origins-of-object-oriented-programming.html

Once you’ve built a house, you hope that modifying it is rare. Software, by contrast, undergoes nearly continuous modification.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2021/07/fundamental-concept-software-is-rarely-built-mostly-it-is-changed.html

We maintain our cars, homes and devices. Heating and cooling systems need regular maintenance. So do our bodies! If we don’t care for our bodies properly, they break down! Software, by sharp contrast, never needs to be maintained. NEVER!

https://www.blackliszt.com/2022/01/software-never-needs-to-be-maintained.html

Waterfall and Agile are metaphors widely used in software project management. They hurt without helping.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2013/03/software-comparing-waterfall-and-agile.html

Software is amazing. We interact with what it does when using our computers and phones and when playing video games. Understanding what goes on behind the scenes is a whole different thing. It's understandable that metaphors are how people think about it. Sadly, the inappropriate metaphors result in bad software management.

Summary: Software People and Management

Guess what – software people aren’t like regular people! There are differences in the ways they think and act, judging results can be difficult, and hiring and managing is challenging. This is a summary of my writing on the subject.

Skills, Training and Status

When you get a degree in CS or learn a programming language, you’re all set, right? Actually, those things are pretty much the same as knowing how to hammer a nail when building a house. It’s a nice start, but there are levels and levels of skill beyond the basics.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2018/09/the-hierarchy-of-software-skills.html

There is perennial conflict between young and old in software, perhaps more than other fields.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2010/12/experience-and-youth.html

You might think that getting a degree in Computer Science prepares you to be an effective programmer, much like getting an MD prepares you to be an effective doctor. A comparison of the two makes it clear that CS education is sadly deficient.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2020/07/job-requirements-for-software-engineers-should-stop-requiring-cs.html

Does status in software correlate with your skills, kind of like how hitting more home runs gives you status in baseball? Sadly, no. One aspect of software status is that the more layers there are between you and real customers, the more status you have.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2011/10/status-in-software-silliness-and-stupidity.html

There are other dimensions, for example the more management layers between you and fingers-on-keyboard programming, the greater the pay and status. And there are others!

https://www.blackliszt.com/2018/10/the-hierarchy-of-software-status.html

There is a similar skills and status hierarchy in data science

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/03/the-hierarchy-of-software-skills-data-science.html

One of the sad things about software is that writing great code and getting credit for it are largely unrelated to each other.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2020/10/elizebeth-smith-friedman-the-cancelled-heroine-of-cryptography.html

Hiring

Hiring software people is a challenge. There is widespread bad advice that interviewing for a software job should involve lots of chatting and relationship building.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/02/how-to-get-a-software-job.html

There are definitely better ways to select software people than the normal interview process.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2011/12/interviewing-software-people.html

The CTO of an organization is a special case. The requirements for the job are frequently impossible to meet.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2014/10/hiring-a-cto-the-impossible-dream.html

While CTO’s should be tops in technology, the best of them understand finances.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2012/10/cto-cfo-cfbco.html

Managing

Managing software people isn’t easy. Most managers tend to focus on process instead of substance.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2013/03/process-and-substance-in-software-development.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2013/11/people-and-substance-in-software-management.html

One of the reasons software managers tend to focus on process instead of substance is that they have zero experience building software. Worse, it's literally invisible to them.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/04/managing-software-thats-invisible-to-you.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2016/12/managing-what-you-cant-see.html

Non-technical managers think that MBA skills are the main thing that's required to be a good manager. Wrong.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2016/01/software-business-and-business-school.html

Here's how I learned from a course at Harvard Business School that the MBA teaches confident ignorance in terms of software.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2023/01/software-management-and-business-school.html

So with all this, should a skilled software aspire to be a manager? Dilbert makes an excellent argument.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2023/02/should-a-software-engineer-aspire-to-become-a-manager.html

It’s easy to focus on relationships instead of technical substance when managing.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/02/software-management-and-relationships.html

The way group management changes as the group grows can be destructive.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2011/05/how-great-software-teams-can-go-wrong.html

All too often, nontechnical managers make important decisions instead of software people.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2014/01/who-makes-the-software-decisions.html

In other fields, it’s mostly people who DO the highly skilled thing who become managers of it. It should be the same in software.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2014/10/joe-torre-and-software-development.html

It’s clear from the pay scales that most companies value management much more highly than the people who write code. Unlike baseball, for example, where the people who play on the field get the highest pay.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2016/04/software-people-you-get-what-you-pay-for.html

Does having a CS degree lead to the best pay? Not as much as you’d think.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/05/how-much-is-a-computer-science-degree-worth.html

There are many ways otherwise good programmers can go wrong. One big one is the result of perverse incentives.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/04/software-problems-the-role-of-incentives.html

Programmers who are considered to be “stars” often have issues unique to software that hurt group efforts and are rarely recognized.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/04/high-iq-programmers-the-problems.html

On the other hand, the whole process of training and promoting the most talented programmers is broken. It can learn a lot from ballet.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2013/04/what-can-software-learn-from-ballet.html

Book

The above are highlights of what there is to learn about software people. For more, see my book.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/03/software-people-book-just-published.html

 

Summary: David B Black Books

This is a brief description of the Building Better Software Better series of books. I wrote the books to explain the non-standard methods of producing great software that I first discovered over a couple decades of writing code in various environments, and then observed in small groups of programmers over a couple decades of VC investing. It's the only way to explain how tiny teams can beat industry giants at their own game. It's not about everyone being a so-called 10X programmer -- it's about working smarter.

Here is the story of the background of writing the books.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/10/secrets-of-software-super-developers.html

Software Business and Product Strategy

Here are some of the business and product strategies described in the book, including links to the book:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2016/07/innovation-stories.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2016/04/software-business-and-product-strategy-book.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2016/05/innovation-from-startup-to-success.html

Wartime Software

Building bridges for civilian use takes years and thousands of people. Building bridges in wartime takes hours – it’s done under enemy fire, and the load and quality requirements are higher. Most software is built the way bridges are in peacetime. Some groups  -- those who are “under fire” or just don’t have time or money to do it the “right way” -- build software using wartime rules – software that is better than peacetime software. They do this not by cutting corners, but by following a different set of rules and methods.

Best to start: http://www.blackliszt.com/2012/03/bridges-and-software-in-peace-and-war.html

               http://www.blackliszt.com/2014/02/lessons-for-software-from-the-history-of-scurvy.html

General posts: http://www.blackliszt.com/warfare/

Book: https://www.blackliszt.com/2013/05/wartime-software-book-available.html

Project management

The title is the Disease of Software Project Management, because project management has in fact been a disaster for software. The idea that software development should be managed by generic project management techniques is accepted nearly universally -- the only disputes are about which of the many minor variations to choose. This book is a deconstruction of project management, its origins and its application to software development. If phrases like "that will probably take us three sprints to get done" spring from your lips without sarcasm, you need to read this book. The core idea is that all forms of project management optimize for expectations, while in wartime you optimize for speed.

Best to start: http://www.blackliszt.com/2010/10/software-project-management-dates-are-evil.html

http://www.blackliszt.com/2013/03/software-comparing-waterfall-and-agile.html

Summary of Posts: https://www.blackliszt.com/2023/04/summary-software-project-management.html

Book: http://www.blackliszt.com/2012/10/software-project-management-book.html

Software QA

Things are done faster in wartime, but that's only possible if they're done differently. QA is one of the key areas of difference. There are core ideas to understand, and detailed methods that are different, involving different skill sets than are normally involved in QA.

Best to start: http://www.blackliszt.com/2012/04/a-simple-framework-for-software-quality-assurance.html

Summary of Posts: https://www.blackliszt.com/2023/04/summary-software-quality-assurance.html

Book:  http://www.blackliszt.com/2012/10/software-quality-assurance-book.html

People

Managers tend to apply the same templates to managing software people that they apply to everyone else. They foolishly think they can manage people who are doing something they don't understand and can't even see. This book covers some of the things that are unique to software people.

Best to start: http://www.blackliszt.com/2014/10/joe-torre-and-software-development.html

               http://www.blackliszt.com/2014/01/who-makes-the-software-decisions.html

               http://www.blackliszt.com/2013/11/people-and-substance-in-software-management.html

Summary of posts: https://www.blackliszt.com/2023/05/summary-software-people.html

Book: http://www.blackliszt.com/2015/03/software-people-book-just-published.html

 

This is a brief description of the Building Better Software Better series of books. I wrote the books to explain the non-standard methods of producing great software that I first discovered over a couple decades of writing code in various environments, and then observed in small groups of programmers over a couple decades of VC investing. It's the only way to explain how tiny teams can beat industry giants at their own game. It's not about everyone being a so-called 10X programmer -- it's about working smarter.

Here is the story of the background of writing the books.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/10/secrets-of-software-super-developers.html

Software Business and Product Strategy

Here are some of the business and product strategies described in the book, including links to the book:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2016/07/innovation-stories.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2016/04/software-business-and-product-strategy-book.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2016/05/innovation-from-startup-to-success.html

Wartime Software

Building bridges for civilian use takes years and thousands of people. Building bridges in wartime takes hours – it’s done under enemy fire, and the load and quality requirements are higher. Most software is built the way bridges are in peacetime. Some groups  -- those who are “under fire” or just don’t have time or money to do it the “right way” -- build software using wartime rules – software that is better than peacetime software. They do this not by cutting corners, but by following a different set of rules and methods.

Best to start: http://www.blackliszt.com/2012/03/bridges-and-software-in-peace-and-war.html

               http://www.blackliszt.com/2014/02/lessons-for-software-from-the-history-of-scurvy.html

General posts: http://www.blackliszt.com/warfare/

Book: https://www.blackliszt.com/2013/05/wartime-software-book-available.html

Project management

The title is the Disease of Software Project Management, because project management has in fact been a disaster for software. The idea that software development should be managed by generic project management techniques is accepted nearly universally -- the only disputes are about which of the many minor variations to choose. This book is a deconstruction of project management, its origins and its application to software development. If phrases like "that will probably take us three sprints to get done" spring from your lips without sarcasm, you need to read this book. The core idea is that all forms of project management optimize for expectations, while in wartime you optimize for speed.

Best to start: http://www.blackliszt.com/2010/10/software-project-management-dates-are-evil.html

http://www.blackliszt.com/2013/03/software-comparing-waterfall-and-agile.html

Summary of Posts: https://www.blackliszt.com/2023/04/summary-software-project-management.html

Book: http://www.blackliszt.com/2012/10/software-project-management-book.html

Software QA

Things are done faster in wartime, but that's only possible if they're done differently. QA is one of the key areas of difference. There are core ideas to understand, and detailed methods that are different, involving different skill sets than are normally involved in QA.

Best to start: http://www.blackliszt.com/2012/04/a-simple-framework-for-software-quality-assurance.html

Summary of Posts: https://www.blackliszt.com/2023/04/summary-software-quality-assurance.html

Book:  http://www.blackliszt.com/2012/10/software-quality-assurance-book.html

People

Managers tend to apply the same templates to managing software people that they apply to everyone else. They foolishly think they can manage people who are doing something they don't understand and can't even see. This book covers some of the things that are unique to software people.

Best to start: http://www.blackliszt.com/2014/10/joe-torre-and-software-development.html

               http://www.blackliszt.com/2014/01/who-makes-the-software-decisions.html

               http://www.blackliszt.com/2013/11/people-and-substance-in-software-management.html

Summary of posts: https://www.blackliszt.com/2023/05/summary-software-people.html

Book: http://www.blackliszt.com/2015/03/software-people-book-just-published.html

 

Summary: The Ongoing Problem of Computer Security

Computer security is important for the same reason as home security – you don’t want bad guys breaking into your house, wrecking it and taking your stuff! Here are brief summaries of the unending computer security problems and how to solve them.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2023/04/how-to-prevent-the-leak-of-confidential-documents.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/05/computer-security-problems-solutions.html

In the invisible world of computers, security is elaborate, expensive and an ongoing nightmare of failure and ineptitude. But computer attacks are largely ignored, while physical security problems often make the news.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2014/09/cyber-security-and-cyber-insecurity.html

Managers treat managing computer security no differently than anything else. Huge mistake.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/06/systemic-issues-behind-the-cyber-security-disasters-at-opm-citi-anthem-etc.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/06/what-baseball-can-teach-us-about-opm-anthem-and-other-cyber-thefts.html

Everyone in the physical world realizes that security falls into two entirely distinct categories. First is for places when they’re closed: security is stopping anyone unauthorized from entering. Second is for places when they’re open: keep visitors and employees from stealing things. Computer security focuses almost exclusively on keeping the bad guys out, largely ignoring the cases of visitors and (above all) employees from stealing things.

Here’s the basic idea of applying retail store methods to computer security.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/03/methods-for-effective-cybersecurity.html

Libraries too.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/03/libraries-are-more-secure-than-computers.html

Here are famous examples of the “insider threat” in the physical and software worlds.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2013/07/edward-snowden-daniel-ellsberg-ineffective-security-then-and-now.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2013/07/cyber-security-standards-are-ineffective-against-insiders-like-edward-snowden.html

Although largely ignored, there are practical ways to implement insider-threat computer security.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/03/lets-fix-cia-cybersecurity-using-machine-learning.html

The government is terrible at cybersecurity.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/06/government-cyber-security-tops-the-oxymoron-list.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2021/07/the-irs-could-have-prevented-the-tax-data-leak.html

And there is general ignorance about basic aspects of it.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/10/the-irs-anti-fraud-contract-with-equifax-is-good.html

Government security experts demonstrate deep ignorance in high visibility cases, confusing outside hacking with typical ignorant-user phishing.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/01/russia-hacks-dnc-podesta-email-fake-news.html

In spite of its own incompetence, the government produces mountains of regulations that companies are required to follow. The regulations largely ignore insider threats and don’t work for outside attackers.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2014/05/bureaucracy-regulation-and-computer-security.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/05/security-regulations-vs-security.html

One of the many reasons the regulatory approach to security fails is that the “experts” are always fighting the last war.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2014/09/cyber-insecurity-and-the-maginot-line.html

Institutions that are hacked and lose mountains of customer information make a big show of concern, but don’t in fact help their customers.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/02/the-anthem-of-cyber-insecurity.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/02/my-anthem-account-was-hacked.html

Smaller tech-oriented companies do the same thing.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/01/computer-security-breach-response-excellence.html

Part of why the data theft parade continues is that the people in charge have no real motivation to make security work.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/03/how-to-achieve-cybersecurity-motivation.html

Outside hacks succeed in part because unwitting employees open the door and let the bad guys in.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/11/cybersecurity-almost-impossible-to-achieve-heres-why.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/04/internet-drivers-licenses-needed-for-users.html

Ransomware is a new way for hackers to profit from security breaches. Not many of the attacks make the news, but there’s an epidemic of it.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2021/06/the-colonial-pipeline-cyber-security-disaster-in-context.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2022/12/new-york-citys-metropolitan-opera-crippled-cyber-attack.html

Articles about famous ransomware attacks shows the profound ignorance of “experts” on the subject.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/05/the-ransomware-hack-attack-lessons-from-the-experts.html

There are proven ways to protect against and recover from ransomware, which are sadly not widely used.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2023/05/how-to-protect-and-recover-from-ransomware.html

Computer security is rife with specialized terminology and abstruse concepts. It can be hard to understand. But the core concepts are easily understood when you compare hack attacks to physical things like car dealerships or gated communities.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2020/02/why-the-equifax-hacking-disaster-wouldnt-happen-at-a-car-dealership.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2021/06/gated-communities-help-us-understand-the-ongoing-cyber-security-disaster.html

There is a special security case of law enforcement agencies with a legitimate need to look inside a consumer device. Apple does its best to protect the criminals.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2016/03/apple-can-help-fight-crime-while-maintaining-privacy.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2016/02/apples-cancer-prevention-strategy.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2016/02/apples-approach-to-privacy-terrorists-and-criminals.html

Until the uniform wisdom and practice of the ruling experts changes, computer security disasters will continue unabated in spite of massive spending to conform to the regulations intended to achieve security.

Summary: Software Quality Problems

Software has a quality problem. It's big and widespread. It affects nearly all software development efforts.It's not getting better. What's going on?

Effective methods of software QA have been in use for decades.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2023/04/summary-software-quality-assurance.html

Given this, you would think that expensive and time-consuming methods that don’t work would have long-since been discarded. But the bad methods are taught in academic Computer Science and broadly supported throughout the industry. The people in charge of quality say they’re doing the best they can – and they are, given the terrible methods they use.

Big companies with all their resources can’t build – or even buy – quality software.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/09/software-quality-at-big-companies-united-hp-and-google.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2021/02/why-cant-big-companies-build-or-even-buy-sofware-that-works.html

You might think that those cool internet companies would get it right.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2012/01/internet-software-quality-horror-shows.html

Twitter is a good example of cool-company software failure.

https://www.blackliszt.com/twitter/

Like Google and FB, they mask errors in their search and sequencing algorithms giving you whatever answers their error-prone software comes up with as facts. All sorts of major organizations have endorsed Twitter results as factual when those results are riddled with error.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2013/05/the-bogus-basis-of-trending-on-twitter.html

Facebook is as bad as the rest. Here are the details on FB’s mobile app, including what its users have to say.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2014/11/facebooks-software-quality.html

And generally about quality at FB:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/03/software-giants-image-and-reality-facebook.html

When you look at a financially successful company based on software, it’s natural to think that they must know how to build great software. Facebook grew to its strong position in the market in spite of its poor software quality. Here’s an explanation of FB’s path to success, which shows all FB had to do was not be drastically worse than their competitors in terms of quality.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2014/12/fb.html

Here’s an example of a government software QA disaster with serious human consequences.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2011/07/software-quality-horror-tales-electronic-diversity-visas.html

Naturally, since government is so great at software, sometimes it intervenes to "make things better."

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/04/the-government-wants-to-help-ubers-software-quality.html

Bad software QA goes way beyond screwing things up; it can kill people.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2012/03/why-software-quality-stinks.html

There is absolutely no excuse for this, when proven methods are available.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2023/04/summary-software-quality-assurance.html

Summary: Software Quality Assurance

Software quality results from the whole process of specifying and building software, not just the formal quality and testing disciplines, as noted here:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2011/07/software-quality-theory-and-reality.html

This summary is focused “just” on what is called Software Quality Assurance.

Software quality, with some exceptions, is bad. People just accept it as a fact of life, though the people who use the software usually make it clear that they’re not happy.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2023/05/summary-software-quality-problems.html

There are groups of software people who use proven, decades-old methods to build high quality software quickly and well, methods that violate the regulations and professional methods that dominate the field.

Here is an introduction to the winning method of software QA.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2021/07/the-revolutionary-championchallenger-method-of-software-qa.html

The typical methods of QA lead to endless work, added to already-long development.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/12/speed-optimized-software-qa-or-cancer.html

Good QA recognizes that one method should be used for getting software to do what you want and a different method for keeping it right, a.k.a. “regression testing.”

https://www.blackliszt.com/2012/04/a-simple-framework-for-software-quality-assurance.html

A remarkable thing about traditional QA is that it’s all built and run in the lab, while good QA is focused on the only environment users care about, essentially field-testing.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2012/04/field-tested-software.html

Here’s an overview of the book on the subject.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2012/10/software-quality-assurance-book.html

 

Summary: Computer Science

If you want to learn math, physics or chemistry, you go to the respective departments to find the people who are true, verified experts. Same with software and Computer Science. What could be more obvious? The trouble is, it’s wrong. Whatever it is they do, it has little to do with real-world software. Worse, it isn’t even a science.

At the beginning and continuing in many universities, software was part of the math department. What could be stronger endorsement of its precision and status as a science?

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/04/math-and-computer-science-in-academia.html

The sad fact is, math and computer science are at fundamental odds with effective software development.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/05/math-and-computer-science-vs-software-development.html

How does Computer Science stack up against real sciences like physics? Not well.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/11/computer-science-is-propaganda-and-computer-engineering-is-a-distant-goal.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/04/software-is-a-pre-scientific-discipline.html

Real science isn’t about experts or authority; it’s about evidence. Whatever you yammer about in academia, if there aren’t verifiable results in the real world, it’s nonsense. In the medical world, for example, drugs are subjected to a process that verifies that they do what they’re supposed to do.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/07/the-science-of-drugs-vs-the-science-of-computers-and-software.html

It took a long time for medicine to pay real attention to evidence. Authority and accepted practice are hard to break. For example, think about the long practice of blood-letting.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/02/what-software-experts-think-about-blood-letting.html

The history of scurvy and antiseptic surgery also provide lessons. Even the development of the steam boat!

https://www.blackliszt.com/2014/02/lessons-for-software-from-the-history-of-scurvy.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2012/07/what-can-software-learn-from-steamboats-and-antiseptic-surgery.html

In medicine there are studies that are peer-reviewed and published with results. This is called “evidence-based medicine.” You would think there would be the equivalent in software, wouldn’t you?

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/02/evidence-based-software.html

The vast majority of software experts strongly resemble medical doctors from those earlier times. The evidence is overwhelming that the "cures" they promote make things worse, but since all the software doctors give nearly the same horrible advice, things continue.

In real science, there is general recognition that what is accepted may not be perfect or complete. Sometimes there are anomalies, evidence that doesn’t support the current theory. Then there’s a paradigm shift that revises and/or replaces the accepted theory.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2021/11/computer-science-and-kuhns-structure-of-scientific-revolutions.html

Computer Science is flooded with problems that the experts largely ignore. It’s bad. If bridges fell down at anywhere close to the rate that software systems break and become unavailable, there would be mass revolt. Drivers would demand that bridge engineers make radical changes and improvements in bridge design and building.

One of the interesting things is that Computer Scientists have sometimes acknowledged there are serious problems. For example, there was a big conference to address the “crisis in software” … in 1968!

https://www.blackliszt.com/2021/08/the-crisis-in-software-is-over-50-years-old.html

What did they do? They promoted “structured programming” and decided that the essential “go to” statement was evil.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2021/09/software-programming-language-evolution-the-structured-programming-goto-witch-hunt.html

Aside from a new wave of rhetoric in the software world, nothing of substance changed.

It is enlightening to compare the training to became an MD to the training to be qualified in software. In medicine, your job is to keep people healthy and cure them when they’re not. In software, your job is to build healthy software and cure it when it’s not. The training and testing requirements couldn’t’ be more different. Hint: it’s way better for doctors.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2020/07/job-requirements-for-software-engineers-should-stop-requiring-cs.html

Fashion” is a word we associate with clothes. Software is hard, it’s objective, it’s taught in schools as “computer science.” Software can’t have anything to do with “fashion” if it’s a “science,” can it? Sadly, software is infected by fashion trends and styles at least as much as clothes. Fashion has a huge impact on how software is built.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2018/11/what-are-software-fashions.html https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/05/recurring-software-fashion-nightmares.html

When software history becomes as important a part of computer science education as physics history is of physics, we'll know it's approaching credibility. Until then, everything about computer science, education and practice will continue to be a cruel joke.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2012/03/computer-history.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/06/the-evolution-of-software.html

What can be done? One thing is to understand and accept the goals of software. In physics, the goal is to make accurate predictions of space/time events. What is the equivalent in software? There is actually widespread tacit agreement. It’s just not talked about and contradicted by the reigning dogmas.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2022/05/the-goals-of-software-architecture.html

Until such time as Computer Science becomes scientific, no one who wants to do software should bother with academic degrees, and anyone hiring for software should not require a college degree, much less one in Computer Science. The degree isn't worth as much as you night think.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/05/how-much-is-a-computer-science-degree-worth.html

 

Summary: Software Project Management

Software project management is a major aspect of software development. People generally only think about it when changes to it are being considered. Most of the time it’s just part of life. It determines your role in a software group, how to interact with others in your group and is the central function determining whether efforts are successes or failures.

Some form of project management is required for all software projects – otherwise they are considered out-of-control amateur efforts. Sadly, this is a nearly universal bad idea – project management has proven to be a disaster for software development.

A core trouble is that the ideas of software project management are based on inappropriate physical metaphors such as architecting and building a house.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2018/12/software-planning-is-impossible.html

I wrote software for a number of years. I got the stuff done people wanted quickly. Then I joined a company that was infected by experienced professional managers and got project management force-fed to me.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2012/10/software-project-management-book.html

I studied more and found there were many thousands of books on the subject!

https://www.blackliszt.com/2012/10/there-are-lots-and-lots-of-books-on-software-project-management.html

I found there were intense disputes in the industry about the subject, particularly concerning the widely-mocked “waterfall” method that was giving way to supposedly better Agile methods.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2013/03/software-comparing-waterfall-and-agile.html

Regardless of the religious sect of project management to which you belong, the key factor is how much time you spend writing code versus doing anything but writing code. With rare exceptions, spending more time writing code rather than just about anything else leads to better productivity.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2012/09/software-productivity-the-abp-factor.html

Why is project management so bad? Don’t you want to know how long something will take and what it will cost before you dive in? Of course you do! That’s why it refuses to die. The absolute core issue is that all forms of project management optimize for predictability, starting of course with estimation.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2012/06/the-nightmare-of-software-estimation.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2011/02/software-project-management-releases-are-stupid-and-out-moded.html

When you dig in, it turns out that all those estimates and dates lead to dysfunction. Someone who says they’ll run a mile in 20 minutes and makes 19 is praised, while someone who hopes to do it in 10 minutes but makes 11 is a failure.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2010/10/software-project-management-dates-are-evil.html

The whole notion of releases needs to change.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2011/02/software-project-management-releases-are-stupid-and-out-moded.html

In spite of all the fervor about Agile etc., the fact is that nearly all software projects are way too expensive and slow and have crappy results.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2021/02/why-cant-big-companies-build-or-even-buy-sofware-that-works.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2014/04/delivering-software-is-a-nightmare.html

The solution is widely proven by small groups that really need to win instead of getting praise from experienced managers. They use grow-the-baby techniques with post-hoc design and wartime methods.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2011/06/software-how-to-move-quickly-while-not-breaking-anything.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2022/09/better-software-and-happier-customers-with-post-hoc-design.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2013/05/wartime-software-optimizing-for-speed.html

The book I wrote has lots of explanation about the issues.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2012/10/software-project-management-book.html

 

Summary: Cryptocurrency and Blockchain

The first Bitcoin was mined early in 2009, practically yesterday! A myriad of other cryptocurrencies have followed in its wake, and the underlying Blockchain technology has been applied to many non-currency domains. It can seem as though Bitcoin came out of nowhere, particularly given the anonymity of its creator.

Looking back, it now seems obvious that the world-wide culture and infrastructure for video gaming had a great deal to do with the rapid acceptance and spread of the digital currency:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2022/05/cartoons-and-video-games-evolved-into-bitcoin-nfts.html

In the gaming world, there's always someone in charge. Bitcoin is a digital currency that operates without any one person or group in charge. How it accomplishes this through the use of miners that are incented to maintain the integrity of the system is a real innovation. Here is what is novel and technically new about Bitcoin:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/02/the-novel-idea-at-the-heart-of-bitcoin.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2023/04/a-primer-on-bitcoin-miners.html

I think most people would be surprised to realize that Bitcoin didn't invent the idea of a digital currency. Currencies in the video gaming world are digital, but perhaps more surprising to many is the fact that the vast majority of US dollars are completely digital, no less so than Bitcoin! This is explained in my most popular post on Forbes explaining how the US dollar is already digital and how a central bank digital currency would add nothing:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2020/12/we-dont-need-fedcoin-we-already-have-a-national-digital-currency.html

The core technology of Bitcoin and other digital currencies is called blockchain. Here are the basics of blockchain.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2018/02/blockchain-101.html

The common impression is that blockchain is a wonderful new technology that can solve all sorts of problems involving distributed data. Sadly this is not the case. Blockchain is an excellent solution for the purpose for which it was invented, and not much else:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2017/11/blockchain-a-sailboat-without-sails.html

Here's an example of a real-world problem of exactly the kind blockchain is supposed to solve -- that is already solved well with existing technologies.:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2020/12/could-blockchain-help-fix-my-car-that-was-destroyed-by-a-tree-branch.html

Here’s how the WSJ says that blockchain will solve the problem of stock transfers and why it can’t, mostly because blockchain has nothing to do with the hard part of the problem:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/11/the-magic-of-block-chain.html

There has been an explosion of investment in blockchain. Here is an example of how hyped but irrelevant technology can become a big financial winner:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2016/06/how-blockchain-will-deliver-value.html

Microsoft and Intel spell out the problems of blockchain:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/11/microsoft-and-intel-detail-the-deep-seated-problems-with-blockchain.html

Here is the pattern of ignoring the hacks of cryptocurrency that “everyone says” can’t happen because of blockchain’s “immutable ledger”

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/02/crypto-currency-hacks-and-losses-mount-while-supporters-remain-silent.html

Here is an explanation of how those hacks of the crypto-protected and immutable ledger happen:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/03/how-can-an-immutable-distributed-ledger-have-assets-lost-or-stolen.html

Ethereum’s “immutable ledger” was re-written by a hack that “couldn’t” happen:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/05/blockchain-has-been-unchained-and-unblocked-and-its-broken.html

Here are the basics of Smart Contracts, the ability to write programs that run inside the blockchain, made famous by Ethereum:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/03/are-blockchain-smart-contracts-smart-are-they-contracts.html

Facebook created a new Smart Contract language, which is now maintained and extended by Aptos Labs. There are serious issues with it.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/07/facebooks-libra-crypto-currency-introduces-a-brand-new-smart-contract-language.html

Blockchains are increasingly run on cloud computing services, a “private blockchain.” If you understand why Bitcoin was novel by running with no one in charge, you can see why having someone in charge makes no sense for blockchain, and why conventional DBMS systems are vastly superior:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/03/if-you-like-private-blockchain-you-should-also-like-living-in-a-tent-instead-of-a-house.html

How is crypto-currency better than apps like Venmo, CashApp and Zelle (hint: except for criminals, it's not):

https://www.blackliszt.com/2019/09/facebooks-libra-cryptocurrency-and-the-p2p-apps-venmo-and-cashapp.html

A well-publicized event at the time was the missing emails of an official at the IRS. Everyone thinks they know how email works. Email is indeed simple compared to crypto. But nearly everyone, including all relevant officials, clearly were clueless about how email actually works! So how is it going to work out for something that is much more technically deep like crypto/blockchain?

https://www.blackliszt.com/2015/11/what-e-mail-teaches-us-about-bitcoin-blockchain.html

There has been a live roll-out in a group of countries of government versions of crypto-currency (CBDC, Central Bank Digital Currency). It hasn't worked out too well, and the people who tried to use it were hurt.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2022/03/dcash-government-cryptocurrency-shows-why-fedcoin-would-be-a-disaster.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2022/03/what-is-behind-the-dcash-central-bank-digital-currency-disaster.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2020/12/we-dont-need-fedcoin-we-already-have-a-national-digital-currency.html

Ransomware has exploded. In general, the criminal use of crypto has grown greatly. Crypto groupies go to great lengths to deny it:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2021/06/the-colonial-pipeline-cyber-security-disaster-in-context.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2021/06/bitcoin-enables-criminals-to-thrive-while-promoters-deny-the-facts.html

https://www.blackliszt.com/2022/10/cryptocurrency-and-crime.html

There are ways to protect against ransomware that the industry largely ignores.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2023/05/how-to-protect-and-recover-from-ransomware.html

There have been quite a number of crypto crashes, including some in which large numbers of people lost lots of money. Perhaps the most famous of these was the demise of crypto exchange FTX, with criminal charges being brought against its founder, SBF. Here is an explanation of how the "wallet" provided to FTX customers that held all their funds was constructed, and how that meant that crypto that customers thought they owned was actually owned by FTX. This deception had a major role in FTX's crash.

https://www.blackliszt.com/2022/12/the-phony-wallet-of-ftx-and-how-it-enabled-the-corruption-of-sbf.html

The wonderful "distributed immutable ledger" couldn't protect people from the fact that they didn't understand that the crypto held in their FTX "wallets" wasn't theirs, in any sense of the word!

For more detail on cryptocurrency, see the book authored by Oonagh McDonald on the subject. I was her technical advisor:

https://www.blackliszt.com/2022/01/cryptocurrency-money-trust-and-regulation-book.html