Software development, in all its guises, is still in its relative infancy.  Humans have been designing and producing physical objects for thousands of years and we have got pretty good at it, but software design and development is all quite new to us and, as a species, we are still working out how to do it properly.  We only have to watch the TV news to see software projects failing, costs spiraling or a red-faced Government minister having to explain why a multi-million pound project has been scrapped - and these are only the ones we get to see!.

At PPS, we look at how and why software-based projects fail, as a lot can be gained from seeing how not to do things, while learning from successes in the software industry.  The personnel at PPS all have their professional roots in the Civil Aviation and/or Defence industries, where failure can cost a lot more than just money.  With all this in mind, we would like to share our thoughts about application development methodologies as it is the foundation of our services.  There may be areas you disagree with, or feel could be refined more.   If so, let us know - we never forget that there may be better ways of doing things! 

In these pages, we shall share our philosophy concerning the overall end-to-end design of software applications (sometimes referred to as 'solutions' - usually by Microsoft employees...) and focus on one critical area that is often a major contributor in spectacular failures - testing.  While we will eventually try to discuss all areas of software development we also have to earn a living, so please bare with us as this area slowly develops.  At some point, we'll put a discussion forum on the site so everyone can openly discuss and argue various aspects...