NOTE: There is a newer version of this talk. Official Description: There are many things in software we believe are true but very little we know. Maybe testing reduces bugs, or maybe it’s just superstition. If we want to improve our craft, we need a way to distinguish fact from fallacy. We need to look for evidence, placing our trust in the hard data over our opinions. Empirical Software Engineering is the study of what actually works in programming.| Hillel Wayne
I love science. Not the “space is beautiful” faux-science, but the process of doing science. Hours spent calibrating equipment, cross-checking cites of cites of cites, tedious arguments about p-values and prediction intervals, all the stuff that makes science Go. And, when it does happen, the drama. I also want us to use more empirical science in software. That’s why I wrote a talk on it! One thing lay folk don’t realize is that science is social.| Hillel Wayne