Dave West began his computing career as a Computer Operator / Programmer in 1968 — the same year that “Software Engineering” became a profession. He has participated in every movement and revolution in computing since then, including: structured development, databases- and data-driven development, object development, agile development, patterns, domain-driven design, and design thinking. He pursued simultaneous careers as a professional developer and academic. Today he provides mentoring, training, coaching, and consulting services to teams and organizations seeking transformative change.
The state-of-the-practice for software development in 1968 was 'Domain-driven Design'. Then "Software Engineering" happened and we lost our way. Academia insisted on telling practitioners how they should do their jobs. Numerous practitioner led 'revolts" — including Eric Evans' DDD — attempted to escape the shackles of formalism and put us back on track; but with very limited success. This talk will discuss the specifics of what went wrong and provide concrete recommendations on how to make things right.
Sixty years of software engineering has taught us a lot about designing and deploying deterministic systems (e.g. the Internet infrastructure) but almost nothing about designing and developing complex adaptive (living) systems (e.g. the Web). The software profession is ill prepared to meet the challenges presented by living and ultra-large scale systems. But, it is precisely that kind of system we are increasingly tasked to design and build. This workshop provides a framework for a discipline of “living system design” that includes essential concepts, fundamental principles, proven practices, and focused techniques for comprehending, designing, and developing living systems.
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