Current Practices, Culture Changes, and Software Engineering Education

Determining the current practice in software engineering tools, methodologies, and theories across a representative sample of international industries is difficult. An extensive software engineering education project sponsored cooperatively by Florida Atlantic University, by the Software Engineering Institute, and by nine major high‐technology firms provides data for such an assessment. This analysis may provide guidance to designers of university curricula. Opinions and insights gained from this project show that the more general, art‐oriented aspects of software engineering processes are perceived as most useful in industry; the more specific, science‐oriented topics are not as useful now. Cultures are changing, though, and practitioners are eager to try new approaches. Essential in this endeavor is support and feedback from management; otherwise, potential future leaders in software methodology and applications may be discouraged.