The coming software productivity revolution will be based in the rigorous application of mathematics, not in clever programming tricks, “enterprise” Java or language du jour “integrated” development tools.
MIT’s Technology Magazine reported that IT teams spend up to 80% of their budgets removing defects they themselves introduced into the code.1 Imagine the possible savings if a software product could be produced defect free the very first time. The only way to achieve this is to have a mathematically rigorous process of creating software, a mathematically rigorous process of turning business needs into executable systems.
Although loath to admit it, most software developers will confess that the internals of their software systems have much more in common with a Rube Goldberg cartoon than a mathematical equation. This is unfortunate, for only the rigorous application of mathematics enables the rapid production of error-free software systems.
I’ve seen it done, repeatedly.
The day is coming, burning like a furnace, when traditional development will be chaff; that day will set it ablaze, leaving neither root nor branch.2
I look forward to that day.
-Tom