Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ginosko!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!dptg!pegasus!psrc
From: psrc@pegasus.ATT.COM (Paul S. R. Chisholm)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Chaos theory for software engineering?
Keywords: chaos
Message-ID: <4125@pegasus.ATT.COM>
Date: 2 Oct 89 04:12:00 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 19

Yeah, I know, the last thing software people need is more chaos.-)  But
seriously, I'm partway through CHAOS:  THE MAKING OF A NEW SCIENCE by
Gleick, and some of it sounds a lot like what we do.  Chaos theory
deals with dynamic systems, consisting of many bodies whose behavior is
too complex to model, and where small changes in the initial conditions
can lead to enormous changes in the final state.  Yup, sounds like the
software *I'm* responsible for.-)

My first impression is that this stuff isn't applicable to software
engineering.  Rough approximations or general descriptions of our
systems aren't much help.  But I'm not the brightest person in the
field.

Has anyone found any references to applying chaos theory to software?

Paul S. R. Chisholm, AT&T Bell Laboratories
att!pegasus!psrc, psrc@pegasus.att.com, AT&T Mail !psrchisholm
I'm not speaking for the company, I'm just speaking my mind.
(I'm too busy to edit summaries; just post on this one, please.)