Lessons and Licensing

I had the great pleasure of meeting and having several extended conversations with the renowned Prof. David Parnas who I met at the Australian Software Engineering Conference where he was guest speaker in Brisbane, 2005.

The chats I had with Prof. Parnas reinforced the unchanging nature and lessons of software development. He talks about loose coupling between modules, software engineering as a profession and attention to fundamentals. We both have strong, personal interests in the quality of undergraduate education, postgraduate and continuing professional education and licensing.

In Australia, there is ongoing discussion between the Australian Computer Society and the ITEE College of Engineers Australia about licensing arrangements. The likely outcome is hopefully a joint board that offers national accreditation, similar to those that operate in Canada and Ireland where Prof. Parnas is himself involved in these activities.

He must have influenced more than I had realised because I have been hammering on these points ever since!

Note that while I am a competent engineer my professional standing does not compare to David Parnas who is widely regarded as a pioneer in software engineering.