Myths, beliefs and superstitions about the quality of software and of its teaching

Abstract

It is a surprise to see how, as years go by, two activities so germane to our discipline, (1) the creation of quality software, and (2) the quality teaching of software construction, and more generally of Computer Science, are surrounded or covered, little by little, by beliefs, attitudes, "schools of thought," superstitions and fetishes rarely seen in a scientific endeavor. Each day, more people question them less frequently, so that they become "everyday truths" or "standards to observe and demand." I have the feeling that I am minority in this wave of believers and beliefs, and that my viewpoints are highly unpopular. I dare to express them because I fail to see enough faults in my reasoning and reasons, and because perhaps there exist other "believers" not so convinced about these viewpoints, so that, perhaps, we will discover that "the imperator had no clothes, he was naked." © Springer-Verlag 2004.