Re: Timeless Classics of Software Engineering

In article <949ec44a.0407280704.12141129_at_posting.google.com>, Steve Johnson <stevejohnson1972_at_yahoo.com> writes
>I'd like to hear thoughts on what books, in your opinion, are true
>classics in the field of software engineering. I read a lot on the
>topic - at least a book a month for many years. There are many good
>authors, however, the only book on making software that is truly
>timeless, in my opinion, is "Mythical Man Month" by Brooks. It never
>ceases to amaze me that something written over 20 years ago would be
>so relevant.
>
Software Fundamentals: Collected papers by David L. Parnas (Note that this was edited by David M. Weiss and Daniel M. Hoffman, so if you are searching for it you might have to put them down as authors).

Classic papers on the rationale for splitting software into modules - and therefore what splits make sense and what don't. Also a miscellany of articles about specification, concurrency, real time systems, and so on.

I wish I could point to the great impact that this has had on the practice of designing software, but I am afraid that it has not yet had the impact it deserves, and that we are the worse for that.

-- 
A.G.McDowell