Strong vs. weak approaches to systems development

This article discusses the many different approaches that can be followed when solving a problem. Systems development is, fundamentally, a problem-solving activity. A problem in an application domain is transformed by the systems development process into a solution in the computer's implementation domain. The problem-solving literature distinguishes between "strong" and "weak" problem-solving approaches. Strong methods are those designed to address a specific type of problem, designed to fit and do an optimal job on one kind of problem. While weak methods are general approaches that may be applied to many types of problems, designed to adjust to a multiplicity of problems, they solve none of them optimally. It is the purpose of this article to pursue this notion of "strong" and "weak" problem-solving approaches more thoroughly from a systems development point of view. The dilemma with any of these approaches lies in establishing a criteria for choosing among and interfacing schemes for meshing, the various constituent methods. To overcome this dilemma, problem-solving approaches are weak, and that solving the dilemma is the price to be paid for moving toward strong approaches.