The Personal Software Process: Downscaling the factory

Abstract

It is argued that the next wave of software process improvement (SPI) activities will be based on a people-centered paradigm. The most promising such paradigm, Watts Humphrey's personal software process (PSP), is summarized and its advantages are listed. The concepts of the PSP are shown also to fit a down-scaled version of Basili's experience factory. The author's data and lessons learned while practicing the PSP are presented along with personal experience, observations, and advice from the perspective of a consultant and teacher for the personal software process.