Don Foreman writes:

I understand the distinction. My understanding of how well-designed
software is designed and modelled is very sketchy but I worked with
people who did it very well indeed. The software was every bit as
robust as the hardware that executed it.


The real issue - is how much pressure is the company to produce a
profit? Companies that operate on the edge of profitablility will cut
corners and slap together software chucks, and hope fot the best.

Consider Carnegie Mellon's Capability Maturity Model.

Some companies operate at a very low level, especially start-ups.