A tribute to a master!

I have come to know only today; sad to realize that Prof. Watts Humphrey is no more!

I remember listening to his lecture during a conference on software engineering organized by Computer Society of India in mid nineties.

Software development community used to be very small in those times and far less connected. I was a programmer, cocooned in glass houses with mainframes and PCs; a simple world of FORTRAN, COBOL, C and C++. Interaction was truly an eye opener for me, and encouraged me take a decisive plunge into software engineering and software quality. My journey continues, though the master who set me on the journey is no more!

I would like to clarify that, barring my initial interaction during the conference, I have never met him in person. But I had been following him though his published works.

In a career spanning more than two decades in software development, I have seen many advocates of software engineering and software quality crashing with dogmas and myopic vision, without adequately appreciating various dimensions of software development, and dust has not yet settled.

As a person committed to software engineering and software quality, Prof. Watts Humprey had not lost sight of various dimensions involved. Rather, he was able to effectively manage these, and synthesize changes continuously into his work

Though he no more amidst us, I believe, his work and spirit would continue to inspire and guide us, as software development evolve to engineering discipline

What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. ~ Pericles