Identifying essential competencies of software engineers

The knowledge and skills of software engineers are perhaps the most important factors in determining the success of software development. Thus, we seek to identify the professional competencies that are most essential. In the rst phase of our research, we use the Critical Incident Interview technique to identify essential competencies. The Critical Incident Interview technique is a rigorous method for determining critical job requirements from structured interviews with workers. We use this technique in an in-depth review of 20 professional software engineers employed by a major computer rm. Our review includes an evaluation of biographical and Critical Incidence Interview data for 10 exceptional and 10 non-exceptional subjects. We also analyze competencies identi ed by software managers. We identify 38 essential competencies of software engineers. Di erences between exceptional and non-exceptional subjects were not expected in this rst phase of our research. We studied exceptional and non-exceptional engineers to ensure that all competencies are uncovered. Subject areas: software engineering, large software development, software teams, knowledge and skills of software engineers, software productivity, soft-

[1]  J. C. Flanagan.  Psychological Bulletin THE CRITICAL INCIDENT TECHNIQUE , 2022 .

[2]  G. Michael Schneider,et al.  Methods for improving controlled experimentation in software engineering , 1981, ICSE '81.

[3]  Barry W. Boehm,et al.  Understanding and Controlling Software Costs , 1988, IEEE Trans. Software Eng..

[4]  Mark G. Simkin,et al.  What best predicts computer proficiency? , 1989, CACM.

[5]  K. A. Ericsson,et al.  Protocol Analysis: Verbal Reports as Data , 1984 .

[6]  Earl Chrysler,et al.  Some basic determinants of computer programming productivity , 1978, CACM.

[7]  Iris Vessey,et al.  Expertise in Debugging Computer Programs: A Process Analysis , 1984, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[8]  Barry W. Boehm,et al.  Seven basic principles of software engineering , 1983, J. Syst. Softw..

[9]  Grant Mccracken.  The long interview , 1988 .

[10]  Barry W. Boehm,et al.  Software Engineering Economics , 1993, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering.

[11]  Thomas P. Moran,et al.  Guest Editor's Introduction: An Applied Psychology of the User , 1981, CSUR.

[12]  R. Weber.  Basic Content Analysis , 1986 .

[13]  Bill Curtis,et al.  Five Paradigms in the Psychology of Programming , 1988 .

[14]  B. Curtis,et al.  Measurement and experimentation in software engineering , 1980, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[15]  Martha E. Pollack,et al.  Becoming a computer scientist , 1990, CACM.

[16]  Frederick P. Brooks,et al.  No Silver Bullet: Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering , 1987 .

[17]  J. E. Sammet,et al.  Software psychology: human factors in computer and information systems , 1983, SGCH.