Rethinking the modes of software engineering research

Over the years, Software Engineering has provided software developers with a number of significant innovations that have changed the way we conceive a nd develop software. This tremendous growth has made it possible the develo pment and operation of extremely complex applications such as air traffic c ontrol systems, worldwide airline reservation services, avionics and compan y-wide information systems. Despite this indisputable success, there are im portant issues and difficulties that we as researchers and practitioners sh ould take into account to further promote the development of the Software E ngineering discipline. They are related to the approach and the attitude we adopt in carrying out our research work. This paper briefly discusses some issues particularly critical to address the limitations and difficulties w e are facing. The paper does not have the ambition of being complete and co mprehensive. Nor does it propose precise solutions, which indeed require th e committed and collective effort of the entire Software Engineering commun ity. It just aims at proposing some arguments and observations for stimulat ing the discussion and reflection on the future of Software Engineering res earch. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.