Software engineering or soft engineering?

Abstract

The conflict raised by the title of this paper is familiar and may be considered too well worn to continue discussing? On the contrary, the fact that there is no serious resolution of this specific aspect of Software Engineering — despite many advances in software and software tools — suggests to these authors, both from general concern for the implications for the discipline as well as even greater concern for the teaching of software engineering students, that it is worth pursuing. The paper discusses the topic in general and also with particular reference to curricula. Experience in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW including attempts to address this problem are discussed.