Software used to be something that you walked into a Babbage’s store in the mall and bought in a box. That’s clearly no longer the case. The tech industry’s products and services have grown massively in scale and complexity since that time, and we’re now at a point where no one person can truly understand the systems we’re building entirely. Let’s actually take a look at what we can learn from the academic field of complexity theory: what are the essential characteristics of “complex systems”, and what changes do they imply we need to make in our approach to building and delivering the software systems of today?

Jon Moore is the Chief Software Architect at Comcast Cable, where he focuses on leading the company to continually sharpen its delivery of its software-based products. He specializes in the “art