oftware errors abound in the world of computing. Sophisticated coniptiter programs ratik high oti the list of the most complex systems ever created by humankind. The complexity of a program or a set of interacting programs makes it extremely diffictilt to perform offline verification of rtin-time behaviot. Thus, Üie creation and maintetiance of program code is often linked to a process of incremental refinement and ongoing detection and correction of errors. To be sure, the detection and repair of program errors is an inescapable part of the process of software development. However, run-titne software errors may be discovered in fielded applications days, months, or even years after the software was last modified-especially in applications composed of a plethora of sepatate progtanis created and updated by different people at different times, hi such complex applications, software errors are revealed through the run-time interaction of hundreds of distinct processes competing for limited memory and CPU resotirces. Software developers and support engineers responsible for correcting software problems face difficult challenges in tracking down the source of run-time COMMUMICATIONS OP THB ACM March 199r)/V,>l. jlH, No 31
Collaborative multidisciplinary team based education is increasingly recognized as a necessary component in the preparation of technical students for the workplace. This article presents a quantified assessment of a limited-resource process for teaching software product development combining students in computer science, engineering, and business at multiple universities within existing curriculum. Results indicate that the approach is useful in a resource restricted setting, as well as a providing an evolutionary step to the development of full-scale curricular changes that aim to provide students the skills needed to function in an increasingly distributed, multidisciplinary product development environment.
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