Turn to The Last Word, where software professionals who care about quality give you their opinions on hot topics. This month, Johanna Rothman explains what technicians can do to convince management that context switching in the technical world is a sure-fire means to a late project.

Every manager has a story to tell. Find out how one management professional tackles a fictional dilemma. The story may be made up, but the solutions are tried and true. In this installment, Patrick Bailey tells the harrowing tale of a skilled technician-turned-manager who finds himself in a sticky situation with his CEO.

We're pleased to bring you technical editors who are well respected in their fields. Get their take on everything that relates to the industry, technically speaking. In this issue, Brian Marick suggests three ways to combat recidivism on your projects.

Software engineering has come a long way, but programmers still spend a lot of time on tasks that could be automated. Fortunately, there's model driven architecture with its new generation of modeling tools that go way beyond the average UML. Learn how MDA addresses the challenges of today's highly networked, constantly changing systems environment and provides an architecture that assures portability, platform independence, productivity, and much more.