Editing History of software engineering (section)

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{{hatnote|This article covers the field of [[software engineering]] in the sense of one approach to [[software development]]; the terms are sometimes used as synonyms.}}
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{{History of computing}}
The '''history of software engineering''' begins around the 1960s. Writing [[software]] has evolved into a profession concerned with how best to maximize the quality of software and of how to create it. Quality can refer to how maintainable software is, to its stability, speed, usability, testability, readability, size, cost, security, and number of flaws or "bugs", as well as to less measurable qualities like elegance, conciseness, and customer satisfaction, among many other attributes. How best to create high quality software is a separate and controversial problem covering software design principles, so-called "best practices" for writing code, as well as broader management issues such as optimal team size, process, how best to deliver software on time and as quickly as possible, work-place "culture", hiring practices, and so forth. All this falls under the broad rubric of [[software engineering]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://learn.saylor.org/mod/page/view.php?id=12353|title=CS302: Jared King's "The History of Software"|website=learn.saylor.org|language=en-us|access-date=2018-02-17|archive-date=2018-11-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119005709/https://learn.saylor.org/mod/page/view.php?id=12353|url-status=dead}}</ref>