[blub]

A lot of software engineering practices lean towards tribal wisdom instead of being evidence-based.

The only resource I know of that provides citations to studies is Code Complete by McConnell. But having data is no guarantee of correctness. Bossavit debunks some SWE common sense in "The leprechauns of software engineering", including the cone of uncertainty which is referenced by McConnell.

I'm also planning on reading SW engineering best practices by Capers Jones, which is likewise based on data, not anecdotes.

[jack9]

Shouldn't everyone demand more before promoting ideas without any basis? (https://vimeo.com/9270320)

Even if it is just "tribal wisdom", is HN where you recruit a tribe from a vapor posting? I would hope you at least have a tribe before upvoting it up the pile. It feels like it's being promoted for no reason or through a backchannel.

It didn't even give a wiki link to the Chesterton's fence analogy. Sigh.

[abritinthebay]

If we went for the evidence we’d all be pair programmingband doing some form of agile development.

It would be nice, and it’s backed by various studies, but we’re not.