Fundamental principles of software engineering - a journey

A set of fundamental principles can act as an enabler in the establishment of a discipline; however, software engineering still lacks a set of universally recognized fundamental principles. This article presents a progress report on an attempt to identify and develop a consensus on a set of candidate fundamental principles. A fundamental principle is less specific and more enduring than methodologies and techniques. It should be phrased to withstand the test of time. It should not contradict a more general engineering principle and should have some correspondence with "best practice". It should be precise enough to be capable of support and contradiction and should not conceal a tradeoff. It should also relate to one or more computer science or engineering concepts. The proposed candidate set consists of fundamental principles which were identified through two workshops, two Delphi studies and a web-based survey.