Discover personal insights from the minds of some of the most renowned computing scientists and scholars in software engineering. Across twelve in-depth interviews, this book explores how these influential pioneers have shaped the industry, addressing both theoretical and practical applications of their work.

Among the thought leaders are Brian Kernighan, pioneer in C programming and a major contributor to UNIX; Andreas Zeller, creator of delta-debugging; Barbara Liskov, Turing Award winner for her contributions to programming languages and system design; Kent Beck, creator of extreme programming and co-creator of unit testing, cosigner of the original Agile manifesto, and advocate of Test-Driven Development. Also included are interviews with Tom Ball, Shriram Krishnamurthi, Gerard Holzmann, Jean Yang, Keith Hoodlet, Fred Schneider, Daniel Jackson, and Mary Shaw. Their nuanced perspectives offer wisdom from their contributions and insights into new challenges in the modern software landscape. These valuable discussions touch on the nature of software development as a true engineering discipline, the role of debugging and testing, and the emerging impact of LLMs and AI on software creation.

This book blends the past, present, and future of software development while offering a lifetime of lessons. By hearing firsthand advice from individuals who have spent years understanding and changing how we make software, you will be inspired to pursue your own innovations.

What You Will Learn:  

•    Learn from the experiences of influential software engineering thinkers’ professional journeys.
•    Understand the impact of programming languages and how new languages and language features can revolutionize programming.
•    Explore the balance between creating practical tools and adhering to basic engineering principles.
•    Learn about the evolution of debugging, testing, and verification, practices, and their importance in the life of a working programmer.
•    Examine the unique challenges of security-focused software engineering.
•    Identify critical advice and underrated principles that can enhance your own career.

Who This Book is for:

Academics and professionals in software engineering who appreciate deep dives into theoretical and practical aspects of development. 

Alex Groce is a seasoned professional with nearly 30 years of experience in software engineering and testing.  He has made significant contributions to the field through academic research and practical tool development, including detection of real bugs in systems ranging from the Curiosity Mars rover (when he was part of the rover team at NASA/JPL) to smart contract compilers.  Methods introduced by Dr. Groce are used in testing many critical systems, including the Linux kernel and the FoundationDB at the core of Apple’s cloud infrastructure.

He is a noted expert in software testing, particularly fuzzing of critical components such as file systems and compilers, and his work has been recognized by NASA/JPL awards, including NASA Software of the Year (as part of the Curiosity Rover team), and multiple best-paper awards at top conferences.  He is the author of over 100 papers on software engineering, and is a regular columnist for ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes.

When not investigating how to find bugs in software, he enjoys hiking, reading the works of P. G. Wodehouse, and playing board games with his wife.