Everyone has heard the old saying about the shoemaker's children: The shoemaker is so busy making shoes for others that his children do...
Everyone has heard the old saying about the shoemaker's children: The shoemaker is so busy making shoes for others that his children don't have shoes of their own. Prior to the 1990s, many software developers were the "shoemaker's children." Although these technical professionals built complex systems and products that automated the work of others, they used very little automation themselves.
Today, software engineers have their first new pair of shoes—computer-aided software engineering (CASE). The shoes don't come in as many varieties as they would like, haven’t lived up to the many exaggerated promises made by their manufacturers, are often a bit stiff and sometimes uncomfortable, don't provide enough sophistication for those who are stylish, and don't always match other garments that software developers use, but they provide an absolutely essential piece of apparel for the software engineer's wardrobe and will, over time, become more comfortable, more useable, and more adaptable to the needs of individual practitioners.
