1 - A modern approach to computing

Summary

An appraisal of the current situation.

Is anything the matter?

In the early days of computing the machines were not very powerful, there were not many of them and few people had high expectations of them. All that has changed. Computers seem to have become an essential part of everyday society and large numbers of people are employed in supporting existing computer systems and creating new ones.

Although the use of computers is widespread the public image of computers and the computing profession is in need of improvement. Everyone has their own story to tell of the time when their enquiry was rejected with the excuse that ‘it's not possible since we installed the computer system’. There have been some well-publicised disasters with new computing systems.

Yes, something is the matter!

What is wrong with computing today?

Is it the machines? Well they are cheaper, smaller, faster and more reliable than they used to be. No, they do not seem to be the problem.

Is it the programs then? Software today is more expensive, more complex, but no more reliable than it used to be.

Why should this be? Is it the fault of the programmer teams? Are they not as clever as they used to be? No, they have been asked to do the impossible. It is like asking a child who has built toy houses out of Lego bricks to design and build tower blocks for people to live in.