Department of Defense contractors can follow ISO 9000-3 if they so choose. So can DoD agencies. This letter is sent in response to a letter to the editor by George Blank published in the November 1996 issue of Crosstalk. I am the author of the article referenced by Blank in that letter. Blank raised important questions about productive programming environments that should be addressed.
Software development is recognized as one of the most complex of the engineering disciplines.
Complexity of requirements, interfaces, and internal structure also makes software development the most communication-intensive engineering discipline. Hence, the central issue in productivity improvement is effective and efficient software development communication. Projects large enough to require more than one programmer need physical, management, and technology environments that support communication. Isolation creates more problems than benefits. However, amortizing this coding efficiency improvement across the total development activity pales when compared to the impact of effective communication, motivation, and the use of development teams.