Fifteen principles of software engineering

Because the product of software engineering is not physical, physical laws do not form a suitable foundation. Instead, software engineering has had to evolve its principles based solely on observations of thousands of projects. The following are probably the 15 most important principles: (1) make quality number one priority; (2) high-quality software is possible; (3) give products to customers early; (4) determine the problem before writing requirements; (5) evaluate design alternatives; (6) use an appropriate process model; (7) use different languages for different phases; (8) minimize intellectual distance; (9) put technique before tools; (10) get it right before you make it faster; (11) inspect code; (12) good management is more important than good technology; (13) people are the key to success; (14) follow hype with care; and (15) take responsibility. An additional 15 software engineering principles are also listed.< >