After the Gold Rush: Creating a True Profession of Software Engineering

by Steve McConnell

Lively and highly readable introspections on the software development industry appeals to both insiders and non-technical readers alike with candid reflections takes a look at the future of software engineering as a profession. McConnell, a best-selling and award-winning author, describes software development practices and trends, provides valuable insight, and gives the non-technical public an understanding of software engineering.

Genres: Computers, Software, Programming, Engineering, Business, Management, Technical

182 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1999

Reviews

[Hannele Kormano]

I really liked it, a fascinating glimpse of what things looked like *juuust* before the dot com crash. It looks back to the 60s on occasion -- almost as many years have passed since then.

I don't think anyone would disagree nowadays that software development is a true profession, and that it can be taught, but I think it overestimated how many businesses would eventually demand professional software engineers -- industry certifications are more common, like SOC-2, PCI, fedRAMP.

[Bob]

Source of inspiration for the Rightshifting curve.

[Toote]

Almost 25 years later it is both incredible and sad that the technology has changed so much and yet the issues appear to remain the same

[Craig Cecil]

I didn't learn very much from this book--primarily because it covered so much ground that I was already familiar with, as a member of the ACM and IEEE Computer Society. Basically, After the Gold Rush is Steve McConnell's 150-page treatise on the current and proposed future state of the software engineering profession. McConnell examines, compares and contrasts software engineering with other engineering disciplines, and concludes that if we are to build more consistently reliable software systems, then we must elevate programming from a craft to a true engineering profession. The remainder of the book details how this can be accomplished. So, while I was already familiar with the difference between an education in information systems versus computer science versus software engineering, and was already familiar with the contents of the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK), others may find this book very illuminating.

[Scott]

Software Engineering has long been on the fence between art and science and whether it deserves the attention of being among the engineering fields. This book shows how software creators can take on best practices and use engineering techniques to ensure quality products, which it then becomes a valid profession.

[Andrew Doran]

This is brilliant stuff and I have no idea why it is not discussed more. Do we need to wait until we have a massive public accident ��� the equivalent of bridges falling down ��� before software development is ���forced��� to become a true profession?

[Rejeev Divakaran]

Not as good as the other books of Steve McConnell.Still good reading.

[Michael]

Decent book, not sure whether I'd want software to be a licensed profession. Interesting to see that 13 years after this book was published the industry has not made any sort of transition.

[Sridhar Jammalamadaka]

Extraordinary book! Must read for people who are software engineers by profession.