Software Life Cycle Management

A listing of present needs in Software Engineering is followed by a brief discussion of new and "quasi-complete " engineering disciplines and their relation to corresponding branches of natural science. Recent results in Software Science are then described, suggesting a natural science base. The paper concludes with specific suggestions of areas in which these results might well provide guidance and insight into problems of software development and maintenance. Engineering Needs The successful management of large programming projects over their complete life cycles depends largely upon the discipline of Software Engineering. But in its present state of development this discipline still falls far short of being a "quasi-complete " branch of engineering. Substantial progress is urgently needed on many fronts. A handful might be mentioned. 1). Problem Specifications. Software Engineerin