This directory contains PDF copies of Peter Denning's columns on the IT profession written for Communications of ACM beginning in 2001.
Computing's Paradigm (with Peter Freeman) (December 2009) Trying to categorize computing as engineering, science, or math is fruitless; we have our own paradigm.
Computing: The Fourth Great Domain of Science (September 2009) Computing is as fundamental as the physical, life, and social sciences.
Beyond Computational Thinking (June 2009) If we are not careful, our fascination with "computational thinking" will lead us back into the trap we are trying to escape.
Is Software Engineering Engineering? (with Richard Riehle)(March 2009) Software engineering continues to be dogged by claims it is not engineering. Adopting more of a computer-systems view may help.
Evolutionary Systems Development (with Rick Hayes-Roth and Chris Gunderson)(December 2008) Large systems projects are failing at an alarming rate. It’s time to take evolutionary design methods off the shelf.
Voices of Computing (August 2008) The choir of engineers, mathematicians, and scientists who make up the bulk of our field better represents computing than the solo voice of the programmer.
Getting to "We" (April 2008) Solidarity, not software, generates collaboration.
Deja Vu All Over Again (January 2008) PJD reviews his years as Editor of the CACM. He concludes that the current "revitalization" effort is based on the same model as the 1982 effort. The big difference is that ACM has allocated 100% of the required budget, whereas in 1982 ACM allocated less than 10%.
The Choice Uncertainty Principle (November 2007) It is impossible to make an unambiguous choice between near simultaneous events under a deadline. How can computations choose reliably?
Computing is a Natural Science (July 2007). Information processes and computation continue to be found abundantly in the deep structures of many scientific fields. Computing is not -- in fact, never was -- a science only of the artificial. In Spring 2007, John Gehl interviewed PJD for ACM's Ubiquity on-line magazine.
Mastering the Mess (April 2007). We frequently find ourselves immersed in intransigent situations whose resolution demands a disruptive innovation. There are useful strategies for these situations.
Decision-Making in Very Large Networks (with Rick Hayes-Roth) (November 2006). Centralized decsion-making does not work in large federated networks, of which the Internet itself is an example.
Infoglut (July 2006). Overload of cheap information threatens our ability to function in networks; value-recognizing architectures promise significant help.
Innovation as Language Action. (with Bob Dunham) (May 2006). Special section on language-action, Hans Weigand, Ed., May 2006. By learning seven foundational practices, anyone can become a skillful innovator.
Hastily Formed Networks. (April 2006) The ability to form multi-organizational networks rapidly is crucial to humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and large urgent projects. Designing and implementing the network's conversation space is the central challenge.
Recentering Computer Science. (November 2005) The recent drops of enrollment in computer science programs signal the edge of a chasm between our historical emphasis on programming and the contemporary concerns of those choosing careers.
The Locality Principle. (July 2005) Locality of reference is a fundamental principle of computing with many applications. Here is its story.
Is Computer Science Science? (April 2005) Computer Science meets every criterion for being a science, but it has a self-inflicted credibility problem. (Spanish version.)
Network Laws. (November 2004) Many networks, physical and social, are complex and scale invariant. This has important implications from spread of epidemics and innovations to protection from attack.
The Field of Programming Myth. (July 2004) The persistent public image of computing as a field of programmers has become a costly myth. Reversing it is possible but not easy.
The Social Life of Innovation. (April 2004) Fostering a change of practice in a community is much harder than inventing a new technology. The practice of innovation can be learned -- once you know what it is. In Spring 2004, John Gehl interviewed PJD for ACM's Ubiquity on-line magazine.
Great Principles of Computing. (November 2003) The great principles of computing have been interred beneath layers of technology in our understanding and our teaching. It is time to set them free. In Spring 2004, John Gehl interviewed PJD for ACM's Ubiquity on-line magazine.
Accomplishment. (July 2003) Language-action philosophy uncovers the truth about effective coordination and accomplishment.
The Missing Customer. (March 2003) We can no longer afford to treat our customers as abstract entities. They are real people with real concerns looking for our professional help.
Career Redux. (September 2002) How can one design a career when career as an institution is dead? Entrepreneurs have an answer.
Flatlined. (June 2002) Our propensity to create linear scales between opposing alternatives creates false dichotomies that hamper our thinking and limit our action.
Internet Time Out. (March 2002) Technology will not help with information overload. New commitment management practices will.
The Core of a Third Wave Professional. (November 2001) The IT Profession is the first profession forming within the Third Wave of civilization. This realization can resolve several dilemmas faced by IT educators and professional societies. IT professionals need to embody value skills to be able to deliver their technical expertise to their clients.
The IT Schools Movement. (August 2001) About three dozen schools are actively engaged in designing an education for an IT professional without the idiosyncratic constraints of any particular specialty. Ten years ago it would be anathema to consider such a program. Now it's about to become mainstream.
Crossing the Chasm. (April 2001) Computing technologists must cross a chasm that separates their familiar world of technologies from the concerns of the multitudes of pragmatists who are the users of technology in a wide range of application domains.
Who Are We? (February 2001) The IT profession is not simply a community of people who make their livelihood by developing, deploying, serving, operating, and repairing information technologies. It is several dozen diverse specialties in IT-core, IT-related fields, and IT infrastructure. It does not have a coherent identity but can develop one with leadership from ACM and its allies. The tensions between software engineers and computer scientists come from a misunderstanding of the difference between core of principles and core of practices.