Re: Timeless Classics of Software Engineering

jcoffin_at_taeus.com (Jerry Coffin) wrote:

>"Mikito Harakiri" <mikharakiri_at_iahu.com> wrote in message news:<dQeOc.47$8H4.120@news.oracle.com>...
>
>[ ... ]
>
>> No database textbooks listed so far. Is it because
>> 1. There are no classic database books.
>> Or rather
>> 2. Software engineers usually don't know anything about databases.
>
>I would say:
>
>3. Because the OP asked about SE, not databases.

     Oh, sure, spoil it by staying on-topic.

>I, for one, can think of at least a couple I'd consider classics about
>database design, just as I can think of some I'd consider classics
>about compilers, operating systems, networking, etc.
>
>A few might qualify as crossovers as well: just for example, Lion's
>book or almost any of Tannenbaum's books could be used for studying
>SE, with operating sytsems as the example code. Likewise, the Dragon
>Book could be used as a study in SE with compilers as the sample code.
>
>Likewise, almost anything by C.J. Date or E.F. Codd could qualify as a
>more or less timeless classic, but none of them is more than
>tangentially related to SE.

     Agreed.

>OTOH, I'd say Robert Heinlein or F. Paul Wilson might have just as
>relevant of messages for software engineers as Date or Codd...

     How about Robert A. (Anton) Wilson? <EG>

     Fnord.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

Computerese Irregular Verb Conjugation:

     I have preferences.
     You have biases.
     He/She has prejudices.