Point counterpoint

Abstract

In mid 1990, a work on software for the Boeing 777 aircraft was conducted. The project required the development, testing, and certifying of about 2.5 million lines of new software and incorporating about 1.6 million lines of commercial off-the-shelf software. Around 70 people monitored the project, along with hundreds of software engineers drawn from both Boeing and the suppliers. By 1994, the software development met the majority of its goals, with only about 120,000 lines of nonessential functionality deferred at initial delivery. It is said that the key elements in managing this very large project was simplicity: To deliver the software, it had to be tested; to test it, the software has to be coded. These were the simple metrics. Using them allowed to constantly monitor the heartbeat of the code development.