One issue that Hogan (2007) notes with software engineering development is that of reliability. There is the need to ensure that the applications are reliable. The information systems run on platforms and operating systems. The compatibility that the operating system and the application running on them has depends talks a lot of the reliability of the application. There are operating systems that are considered more reliable in running software applications that are installed on them than others. When developing s software, there is the need to make sure that the platform that will be run is considered. Software reliability is an important concept in programming, as the software will be used to run very critical applications that control important business processes. According to Hogan (2007), there is need to ensure that the operating system and the platforms that the applications run on be updated and without errors. Hogan (2007) argues that the operating system, taking the example of Windows XP, Vista and NT are up to date. The patches should be applied in case there bugs. He cautions that the patches should not be applied before making sure that they patches are seasoned in other critical areas.
Structured programming is not that important as it was in the past. I agree with this statement because many programs that are developed today are web-based and follow internet-programming approaches. In the past, software were developed basing on desktop technologies and standalone programming languages and there was no collaboration like today. The Internet has changed many aspects of software development. In the past, software development was done in one place and there was need to have a well-defined structure so that the programmers who would update the program in the future would follow the structure. This is being phased out with collaboration technologies that are being used while developing software.
A primitive method of programming is a programming method where the data types are atomic and can never be subdivided anymore. An example is where variables are used in loops and control variables. The variables cannot be subdivided any more. User created programming on the other hand makes use of methods and compounds that are used by the programmer to solve a given programming issue. They can further be subdivided. An example is in a system that are used by agents to sell a service. The programmer can create user-created forms that can be used to communicate between the agents and the administrators.
Cross (2007) argues that there are advantages that are associated with releasing Beta version of software. The author argues that the Beta versions undergo improvements with time. This is because users will want to contribute to the product hoping that the final product to be released may reflect these changes. I agree with this because with the changes that are going on in the world today, the user and the developer are partners. The developer should be in a constant improvement process. This is in contrast with final release where the software vendors will take some time before taking the changes that have been suggested by the users. The users will therefore be discouraged with the products of the company. I agree with this. However, some companies would prefer purchasing a final release of the software than Beta versions. This is because there are some information systems that will need to be updated every time the dependent software is changed. This would disrupt business processes. These companies would therefore prefer final releases so that the dependent software is not affected.
Bibliography
Cross, J. (2007). Forever Beta. Chief Learning Officer , 6 (12), 16.
Hogan, H. (2007). Building trustworthy software. Control Engineering , 54 (7), 78.
