Evolution of software development environments

Software development technology is, increasingly, a key element in AT&T's ability to compete across all our products. This article introduces a sequel to the 1988 issue of this journal on software productivity. New technology and methodology being brought to bear on problems of specification, design, implementation, testing and maintenance are outlined. Three dominant trends are emerging in software development environment technology: tools are growing more powerful, technology is being applied across the software life cycle, and development environments are becoming more closely integrated within an open architecture.