Ada and the evolution of software engineering

Software engineering is a term often used to describe programming-in-the-large activities. Yet, any pre cise empirical characterization of its conceptual contours and their evolution is lacking. In this study, a large number of 1982-l 994 publications represented by descriptor phrases are analyzed to determine themes and trends in software engineering. Co-word analysis is the analytical method used. This methodology identifies associations among publication descriptors (indexing terms) from the Computing Reviews Classification System and produces networks of terms that reveal patterns of associations.The analysis indicates which specialties in computing associate strongly with software engineering and which ones do not. The results suggest that certain research themes in software engineering remain constant, but with changing thrusts. Others themes mature and then diminish as major research topics, while still others seem transient or immature. More focus is becoming evident for the most recent time period covered (1991-l 994): object-oriented methods and user interfaces have emerged as central themes. Ada’s role in this evolution presents a case study of software engineering’s maturation and how Ada interacts with other topics in software engineering.

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