What are the Progress, Obstacles and Opportunities in Software Engineering Economics?
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COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM August 1998/Vol. 41, No. 8 63\nNearly a decade of Workshops on Information Systems and Economics\n(WISE) have examined a wide range of research topics.\nThese include a number of what could be termed “demand-side” topics, which focus on the\neffective use of information technology, such as IT-induced changes to markets, and “supplyside”\ntopics, which focus on the efficient provision of IT resources. Software engineering economics\n(SEE) spans both groups, but it has generally been the most dominant topic within the supply\narea. While the economics of hardware have been relatively ignored in the management\nresearch literature, given industry’s ability to continually provide\nfaster, smaller hardware at ever-decreasing prices, software has been an\nentirely different matter. Software costs continue to be significant, and\nindustry’s understanding of how to reduce them has improved only very\nslowly in contrast to hardware. This dilemma has merited a significant\namount of research attention, and the consequent research findings tend to\nhave important practical applications.\nChris F. Kemerer\nProgress, Obstacles, and\nOpportunities in\nSoftware Engineering\nEconomics\nPressing demands from industry suggest more attention\nshould be focused on this critical area.\nA d v a n c e s i n S o f t w a r e E n g i n e e r i n g E c o n o m i c s\nAlso in contrast to some of the demand-related\ntopics, SEE research commonly has a significant\ntechnological component to it, since much of the\nresearch is focused on evaluating promising new\ntechnologies or approaches to software development.\nThis diverges with much demand-side work, which\ntends to be closer to traditional economics research.\nTherefore it requires some skills and knowledge of\nboth the software engineering and economics disciplines.\nAccordingly, it has also attracted some\nresearchers from the software engineering area\nwithin computer science, whose work will also be\nreflected in this review, and in the suggestions for\nfuture work. This combination of skill requirements\nalso tends to make research in this area comparatively\ndifficult, and suggests one reason why we\ndon’t see more research in this important area.\nPractitioners are most concerned about understanding\nwhat aspects of software engineering innovations\nhave worked best and whether they are\napplicable to their particular situation. This motivation\nalso lies at the heart of most SEE research. In\naddition, with the huge growth in the packaged\nsoftware industry, more attention has been focused\non software as an economic good.\nObstacles to Progress\nA number of factors militate against observing\nprogress in software engineering in general, and software\nengineering economics in particular. Software\nengineering focuses on the production of software,\nwhich is by its very nature a relatively intangible\ngood. Objectifying and measuring its many dimensions\nare often challenging to researchers. Even in\nsituations where we have relatively good softwarerelated\nartifacts to examine, there may be little evidence\nto examine concerning the process by which\nthey were constructed.\nEven if there were good access to project data,\nthere is another significant confounding factor. The\nnumber and complexity of applications for software\nhave grown very rapidly, fueled, in large measure, by\nthe dramatic improvements in hardware technology.\nAs hardware decreases in size and increases in performance\nper dollar, more applications can be justified.\nThis then creates demand for software. While\nthis tremendous demand for software has fueled the\nfortunes of many software developers and their organizations,\nit provides significant challenges to\nresearchers as we attempt to assess progress in the\ndelivery of software. Since the applications have\nchanged as well as the tools, it becomes very difficult\nto assess the impacts of these new tools. It may well\nbe the c
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Someone once noted that "necessity is the mother of invention".  If there is no necessity with regards to your programming (i.e. nobody is paying you to do it or you are doing it for your own personal satisfaction) then perhaps there is something else you could do instead.\n\nWhile I have a background in programming, I still find situations in normal life each day that would benefit from some form of "automation".  Especially when it comes to repetetive tasks.  Programming is an art of finding algorithms to solve those problems.
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Fundamentals of Mathematical Economics -- Chang
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Probably one of the major challenges is once the s/w is in operation, invariably there will be changes made to it. This will give rise to new test cases that would not have been accounted for previously. Developing new test cases or redefining some of them will be difficult.\nAlso, it is important to determine how much is enough. It is not possible to test  all possible test cases due to time and budgetary constraints. So one cannot maximise testing but only optimise.
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Check out the link below for an example of how to analyze risk on a project.  The example is for construction, but its exactly the same approach for software engineering.
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Software programming.
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Computer science is not quite the same thing as software engineering. I'll assume that you meant computer science, and suggest a concept that is theoretically central but not often applicable in practical settings.\n\nI would argue for computability theory - the study of what exactly a computer is and what it can accomplish. Specifically, the concept of an abstract universal Turing machine, and how pretty much every computing machine currently known can be emulated by a TM.\n\nThis is a key underlying concept because it gives an formal definition of what computation actually is and provides a framework for understanding what can and cannot be computed.
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Go to your nearest Aptech centre. They have great courses in Software engineering with detailed notes.\nIF you have a friend studying there, borrow their books.
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Try the website Salary.Com. It will help you with both the job description/ title as well as how much their wages should be within any major locations.\n\nThis site helped me get an "A" with a serious software engineering essay that even gave me a chart on the job demand increase/ salary and expectations within that job area.
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It's a pretty strong job market right now, from what I hear, and Computer Science remains a popular discipline.  So, finding a job shouldn't be too great a problem.  The two things that may be obstacles are:\n\n1. The specific type of job you're looking for.  If you are too narrow in your search, you may limit your choices too much.\n\n2. The strategy you use to find a job.  You can't wait around for someone to find you.  You need to be proactive in your search, and use a variety of methods.\n\nI've attached a link to an article that should help.\n\nBest of luck to you.
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The basic idea behind open source is very simple: When programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the source code for a piece of software, the software evolves. People improve it, people adapt it, people fix bugs. And this can happen at a speed that, if one is used to the slow pace of conventional software development, seems astonishing.
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Because inexpensive talent in software engineers is being found all over the world including India and Russia and also developing third world nations we're likely to see an emergence of Software Companies growing to compete with the handful of dominant American companies.  We're also likely to see changes in the standards around development because right now it's still difficult to contract out development of software to these developing countries and still receive a product that is worthwhile to go to market with that doesn't create more problems than it solves.  I think it will get better though.
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As with any field, how much money there is to be made depends on the supply and demand. There are many sub-fields in computer engineering from database management to embedded systems design. And then there are specialists and general engineers. Specialists generally get paid more, but have a more difficult time finding employment. General engineers have more that they can get hired for, but there are more of them, so the competition for jobs can be great. \nAnd then you get into marketing, that is marketing yourself. If you want to see the effect of marketing on your potential as a "computer geek", just look at the list of richest people in the world, and see who is at the top of the list. \nWhat I would recommend would be to look at what sub-field of computer engineering you enjoy the most, and are best at, and see how others in that field have fared. Learn from their mistakes and try new approaches to acheive success. In a free market economy, there is always potential, for success and for failure. Both can be educational.
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Anything to do with Networking, Security, CISSP.\n\nMCSE is not as hot as before... too many paper MCSE..maybe after Vista is out...
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details, details\n\nI'm a Senior Software Engineer
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Electronics, specifically electronics design, has the potential to be the next big thing after software.\n\nReasons are the same as those for explosive growth of software.
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Software industry is like turbo for the economic engine of the country. Its almost like an after burner in a rocket. It gives an impetus to the growth levels. The reason India's growth rate is going to touch double digit is because of the solid and growing Software industry.