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The article examines the effectiveness of pair programming (PP) with the help of empirical evidence. Fifteen studies were conducted, out of which eleven compared the effectiveness of isolated pairs. Duration was reported either as the total time a subject took to complete all the assigned programming tasks or as the total time taken to produce code that was assessed as having reached a certain quality standard. For comparisons between pairs and solo programmers, pair effort was reported as twice the duration of each individual in the pair. Quality typically was reported as the number of test cases passed or number of correct solutions of programming tasks. The study reveals that PP leads to increased quality.

The article offers information on how professional software developers can improve their performance standards with effective implementation of test-driven development (TDD) process. It involves writing a unit test followed by writing a code which should fail in the test. Then a new code is written which should pass the test and thus a new capability is added to the software. The author suggests there are three laws to be kept in mind while using TDD which include not writing a code before first writing a failing unit test. Another thing is to not write more of a code than is sufficient to fail in the test and last but not the least not writing more of a code than is sufficient to pass the test.

This article presents information on the Cybercorps scholarship program. This program aims U.S. National Science Foundation funds at two important targets. The first is to educate more of the top computer science students in information assurance and security. The second is to convince them to bring those skills to government agencies after graduation. Since the scholarships began in 2001, students and college educators say the program has made a mark on the nation's next generation of security experts. Formally known as the Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service program, but commonly called Cybercorps, the program awards two-year scholarships. These typically cover a student's junior and senior years of undergraduate study or a two-year graduate program. In return, students serve in a government agency for two years after graduation. Some students win a one-year scholarship when a slot opens unexpectedly; they serve for one year. The program also bestows capacity-building awards to universities. These awards are designed to update and improve information assurance and security curricula and courses and to get professors out in the field with subject area experts. The awards also help the universities qualify as National Security Agency Centers for Academic Excellence; schools must meet this qualification in order to distribute Cybercorps scholarships.

The American Society for Quality's defines best practice as a superior method or innovative practice that contributes to the improved performance of an organization, usually recognized as best by other peer organizations. The fact is that there really is no mechanism to formally establish best practices in the software development community. A large gaps often occur between different business units' practices and often even in projects within a given business unit. Certainly an organization's use of almost any software development practice will differ depending from person to person. INSET: Goodbye... Hello..