Software Engineering Blog

In the past 30 years, a mere blip on the world calendar, software has become a driving force behind changes in our world today. It has created several billionaires under 50 years old. Who are they and how did they do it? On Forbes Top Billionaires of 2013 you find:
Bill Gates – Microsoft – $67 Billion
Larry Ellison – Oracle – $43 Billion
Jeff Bezos – Amazon.com – $25.2 Billion
Larry Page – Google – $23 Billion
Surgey Brin – Google – $27.7 Billion

Steve Jobs – Apple – $11 Billion may have been on the list had he not passed away in 2011. Others include Mark Elliot Zuckerberg with Facebook netting him an estimated $19 Billion, Bob Parsons with Go Daddy at $1.5 Billion, Sean Parker with Plaxo at $2.1 Billion, Paul Allen with Microsoft at $14.2 Billion. and Michael Dell with Dell Inc. at $15.9 Billion. Another not listed in the Top 20 but you may recognize is Ray Lane, former President and COO of Oracle, with over $1 Billion in net worth upon leaving Oracle. WVU Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering is named after him.

We can all look back on our lives and identify significant events that would be considered the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one in our lives. Some of them may be graduating from high school or college, starting a new job, getting married, having a baby, and loosing a loved one. What makes these events an inflection point in our lives that change the way we live the rest of our lives? I know in my life they basically change the core knowledge, belief, values, and/or routine of our regular lives. For me, graduating from a graduate program not only provided me with future opportunities that were not necessarily available without the degree, but I moved and took on a new job as well. The changes in my life as a result of earning the degree impacted how I behaved and chose to live into the future.

Are you tired of the mundane and routine? Are you ready for a life changing experience full of new knowledge, insight, and innovative ideas. If so, do something about it. Explore today how “A New Chapter [n]” can be written in your life with a Master of Science in Software Engineering from West Virginia University Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering only online part-time program. Are you read? Apply today!

I played a lot of chess in high school. Not to brag, but I am a bit, I was ranked in the top 10 in this State. There are three parts of the game you study, the Opening Game, the Middle Game, and the End Game. Of course you have to survive the first two to reach “The End Game” but the strategies of each are different. The End Game usually starts with both opponents having very few pieces left. In many cases a queen, a rook or two, and a few pawns will be left with of course the king on both sides. In software engineering, the End Game is also quit different from the Opening Game but they are obviously linked. The End Game includes transiting of the software products to what is called Operation and Maintenance (O&M). This hand-off is not very clear as with the game of Chess. The product has been signed off by the user as being operationally acceptable and most training has been completed. This doesn’t mean every possible future error has been removed as most of you that have used software in your daily life would know that this is very true. A Help Desk is sometimes setup to accept future errors by the O&M Team. A separate system usually exists to replicate the operational system so that testing can be done to identify and fix the errors that are reported. Sometime enhancements will be requested that are minor that will be performed by the O&M Team. This process usually continues indefinitely until a decision is made to replace the system with a new system such as a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) system or with a redesign and rebuild of the system. Many in software engineering will end up supporting O&M Teams. This can be a very fulfilling and rewarding career with a quicker realization of results than development of a large system taking years to implement.

What will your “End Game” be? As you look at your career and move toward deciding on additional educational options, will your career End Game include extending your education to a Master of Science in Software Engineering (MSSE) from West Virginia University? You can decide because your opponents already have; and, they are already taking classes online, in the evening, through WVU e-Campus.

I’m sitting in as a Proctor for the IEEEXtreme Programming Competition at West Virginia University’s Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering this morning. It is a 24 hour student competition sponsored by the International Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Association. Several students have chosen to spend their Friday night (started at 8 pm) and Saturday (ends at 8 pm) to solve computer science and programming problems to compete against teams across the globe. You may be asking me now, so what?

Think about your life and ask yourself who has challenged you: a family member? a teacher? an employer? What about you? Do you challenge yourself? These students had no one individual except themselves to challenge them to stay awake for 24 hours and test their programming and problem solving abilities against their global peers. Why, when others choose to sleep or party or do whatever you do at 3 AM! on a Saturday morning, would these few individuals choose to “Challenge Themselves”?

This question has several meanings depending upon the inflection used on different words. This is the question asked to initiate a software development project. The emphasis here is on “YOU” because someone must first define what software needs developed. Identifying the “YOU” can sometimes be a challenge in and of itself. Who is the customer? Many times what they want must be balanced with time, budget, and the capability to achieve the desired outcome. The collection process of what is termed “requirements gathering” can become complex as the project moves from a basic simple solution to a large complex one such as sending man to Mars. As a student I had to identify what the instructor wanted in order to comply with an assignment. My first work experience was at the Department of Energy as a Computer Programmer Intern. I was assigned a project converting a Correspondence Tracking System from paper to an online system. I found out later that the person that first requested the project was not the only customer. I only found this out after having developed a pilot version which in my mind was the final version. I demonstrated it and then discovered from another customer that several more requirements were needed to complete the system to meet all of the users needs. Sometimes the best lessons are learned in life through life but much time and pain can be saved through a formal education. Several courses in the WVU Online Software Engineering Program help to provide the foundation for success in answer to the question of “What do YOU want?”.

Please feel free to comment on your experience with defining a software development project.