I recently read Frederick P. Brooks, Jr.’s essay No Silver Bullet: Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering. Brooks wrote this paper 20 years ago and it still rings true today. I like the whole essay and encourage you to read it if you haven’t already.

Brooks is an oft quoted writer. I’m going to indulge in the practice by pointing out a few things from this essay that I think will always be true.

Likewise, a scaling-up of a software entity is not merely a repetition of the same elements in larger sizes, it is necessarily an increase in the number of different elements. In most cases, the elements interact with each other in some nonlinear fashion, and the complexity of the whole increases much more than linearly.

The complexity of software is an essential property, not an accidental one. Hence, descriptions of a software entity that abstract away its complexity often abstract away its essence.

The Silver Bullet is considered yet unknown just because people look for it in wrong place.

See, Brooks himself says

In many cases, the software must conform because it is the most recent arrival on the scene. In others, it must conform because it is perceived as the most conformable. But in all cases, much complexity comes from conformation to other interfaces; this complexity cannot be simplified out by any redesign of the software alone.

In other words, software is complex just because the surrounding world is complex.

So, how someone may dare to conquer the complex world with pure boolean logic and turing automata alone?

Since software reflects the world, I may bring an analogy between writing a software and doing a scientific research.

Any decent scientist will tell you that logic is not his close friend when he makes a breakthrough. He uses logic to prove that his idea will work (or won’t work). He uses it to plan experiments, write reports and grant proposals (err… the last one isn’t logic).

Looking back at a software, no matter what good tools you have. Until you’ve applied some creativity they won’t usefull.

So, the Silver Bullet should be looked for in the development psychology, not the realm of yet another software-tools-that-solves-all-your-development-troubles.

Yes, I’m an interested party here. I did my research and practice that has its way to world in “Software Development Basics”, started with Well Formed Outcome and little note regarding Decomposition.