Tom DeMarco

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Tom DeMarco
Born (1940-08-20) August 20, 1940 (age 83)
Alma mater Cornell University, Columbia University, University of Paris
Known for Structured analysis
Awards Stevens Award (1999)
Scientific career
Fields Computer science
Institutions Bell Labs

Tom DeMarco (born August 20, 1940) is an American software engineer, author, and consultant on software engineering topics. He was an early developer of structured analysis in the 1970s.

Contents

Early life and education

Tom DeMarco was born in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. He received a BSEE degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, a M.S. from Columbia University, and a diplôme from the University of Paris. [1]

Career

DeMarco started working at Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1963, where he participated in ESS-1 project to develop the first large scale Electronic Switching System, which became installed in telephone offices all over the world. [2] Later in the 1960s he started working for a French IT consulting firm, where he worked on the development of a conveyor system for the new merchandise mart at La Villette in Paris, and in the 1970s on the development of on-line banking systems in Sweden, Holland, France and New York. [3]

In the 1970s DeMarco was one of the major figures in the development of structured analysis and structured design in software engineering. [4] In January 1978 he published Structured Analysis and System Specification, [5] a major milestone in the field. [4]

In the 1980s with Tim Lister, Stephen McMenamin, John F. Palmer, James Robertson and Suzanne Robertson, he founded the consulting firm "The Atlantic Systems Guild" in New York. The firm initially shared offices with the Dorset House Publishing owned by Wendy Eachan, Tim Lister's wife. Their company developed into a New York- and London-based consulting company specializing in methods and management of software development.[ citation needed ]

DeMarco has lectured and consulted throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa, Australia and the Far East. [6] He has also been a technical advisor for ZeniMax Media, the parent company of video game publisher Bethesda Softworks. [7]

He is a member of the ACM and a Fellow of the IEEE. He lives in Camden, Maine, and is[ when? ] a principal of the Atlantic Systems Guild, and a fellow and Senior Consultant of the Cutter Consortium. [1] DeMarco was the 1986 recipient of the Warnier Prize for "lifetime contribution to the field of computing", and the 1999 recipient of the Stevens Award for "contribution to the methods of software development". [1]

Personal life

In his spare time, DeMarco is an emergency medical technician, certified by his home state and by the National Registry of EMTs. [6] He is also founding member of the Penobscot Compact, operating under the auspices of the Maine State Aspirations Program, in which local employers contribute the paid time of their employees to tutor students in the public schools. [8]

Publications

DeMarco has authored over nine books and 100 papers on project management and software development. A selection: [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Tom DeMarco". The Atlantic Systems Guild. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  2. Tom DeMarco (2002) Structured Analysis: Beginnings of a New Discipline Archived March 3, 2004, at the Wayback Machine In: sd&m Conference 2001, Software Pioneers Eds.: M. Broy, E. Denert, Springer 2002.
  3. Tom DeMarco Archived November 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine ISRC Fellow. Retrieved November 24, 2008.
  4. 1 2 Ward, Paul T. (October 13, 1995). "Structured Analysis". In Allen Kent; James G. Williams (eds.). Encyclopedia of Microcomputers: Volume 17 - Strategies in the Microprocess Industry to TCP/IP Internetworking: Concepts: Architecture: Protocols, and Tools. Taylor & Francis. pp. 51–89. ISBN   978-0-8247-2715-4.
  5. DeMarco, Tom (1978). Structured Analysis and System Specification. Yourdon. ISBN   978-0-917072-07-9.
  6. 1 2 "Tom DeMarco". Dorset House Publishing. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  7. "ZeniMax Media Profile-Technical Advisory Board". ZeniMax.com. 2001. Archived from the original on October 8, 2001. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  8. DeMarco, Tom (1990). "Making a difference in the schools". IEEE Software. 7 (6): 78–82. doi:10.1109/52.60592. S2CID   34694392.
  9. Tom DeMarco List of publications from the DBLP Bibliography Server.