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CPSC-240 Principles of Software Engineering

Fools Gold Activity


The purpose of this activity is to briefly review Steve McConnell's Fools Gold article. In your groups, answer the quesitons posed below. A couple of sentences per answer is sufficient.
  1. What do you think is McConnell's "Fool's Gold"?
  2. What is the lesson behind the block moving?
  3. Does this apply to your school work? How?
  4. How does this apply to Software Engineering?
  5. What is "code and fix" development?
    1. Does academia teach the "code and fix" approach?
    2. Did it work when you tried it? Why?
  6. How do you know when you're in an environment that is using primarily "code and fix"?
  7. Why does "code and fix" happen?
  8. What is a silver bullet with respect to software engineering?
    1. What are some examples of modern silver bullets?
  9. Why is software called "soft"?
  10. Is software really "soft"? Can it be made "soft"?
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