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Academic Legitimacy of the Software Engineering Discipline

• SEI Report
By
This report examines the academic substance of software engineering and identifies the basic research questions and the methods used to answer them.
Publisher

Software Engineering Institute

CMU/SEI Report Number
CMU/SEI-92-TR-034
DOI (Digital Object Identifier)
10.1184/R1/6571808.v1

Abstract

This report examines the academic substance of software engineering. It identifies the basic research questions and the methods used to solve them. What is learned during this research constitutes the body of knowledge of software engineering. The report then discusses at length what about software makes its production so difficult and makes software engineering so challenging an intellectual discipline.

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Cite This SEI Report

Berry, D. (1992, November 1). Academic Legitimacy of the Software Engineering Discipline. (SEI Report CMU/SEI-92-TR-034). Retrieved June 18, 2026, from https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6571808.v1.

@techreport{berry_1992,
author={Berry, Daniel},
title={Academic Legitimacy of the Software Engineering Discipline},
month={Nov},
year={1992},
number={{CMU/SEI-92-TR-034},
institution={Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University},
doi={10.1184/R1/6571808.v1},
url={https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6571808.v1},
note={Accessed: 2026-Jun-18}
}

Berry, Daniel. "Academic Legitimacy of the Software Engineering Discipline." (CMU/SEI-92-TR-034). Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, November 1, 1992. https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6571808.v1.

D. Berry, "Academic Legitimacy of the Software Engineering Discipline," Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, SEI Report CMU/SEI-92-TR-034, 1-Nov-1992 [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6571808.v1. [Accessed: 18-Jun-2026].

Berry, Daniel. "Academic Legitimacy of the Software Engineering Discipline." (SEI Report CMU/SEI-92-TR-034). Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute, 1 Nov. 1992. https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6571808.v1. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.

Berry, Daniel. Academic Legitimacy of the Software Engineering Discipline. CMU/SEI-92-TR-034. Software Engineering Institute. 1992. DOI: 10.1184/R1/6571808.v1. https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6571808.v1

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