Agile methods: the good, the bad and the ugly






Agile methods are wonderful. They’ll give you software in no time at all, turn your customers and users into friends, catch bugs before they catch you, change the world, and boost your love life.




Assessing concurrency models






In a recent experiment with students we wanted to know how the SCOOP concurrency model compares to Java Threads in terms of ease of learning, program readability and correctness. Our group, however, is heavily involved with SCOOP. How did we address the risk of bias, and other parts of the “Professor Smith Syndrome”? What are our results, and can you believe them?







The Professor Smith syndrome: Part 1 – a quiz






[As a reminder, this blog is now on a regular schedule, appearing every Monday. Sometimes in mid-week there will be a lighter piece or, as here, a preparation for the following Monday’s entry.] Consider the following hypothetical report in experimental software engineering (see earlier posts: [1], [2]): Professor Smith has developed a new programming technique, … Read more