The fundamental problem with program maintenance is that fixing a defect has a substantial (20-50 percent) chance of introducing another. So the whole process is two steps forward and one step back.

Mediocre design provably wastes the world's resources, corrupts the environment, affects international competitiveness. Design is important.

The Waterfall Model is wrong and harmful; we must outgrow it.

The first step toward the management of disease was replacement of demon theories and humours theories by the germ theory. That very step, the beginning of hope, in itself dashed all hopes of magical solutions. It told workers that progress would be made stepwise, at great effort, and that a persistent, unremitting care would have to be paid to a discipline of cleanliness. So it is with software engineering today.

The boss must first distinguish between action information and status information. He must discipline himself not to act on problems his managers can solve, and never to act on problems when he is explicitly reviewing status.

More software projects have gone awry for lack of calendar time than for all other causes combined.

Predictability and great design are not friends.