Larry Constantine

Larry LeRoy Constantine (born 1943) is an American software engineer, professor in the Center for Exact Sciences and Engineering at the University of Madeira Portugal, and considered one of the pioneers of computing.

He has contributed numerous concepts and techniques forming the foundations of modern practice in software engineering and applications design and development.

Constantine grew up in Anoka, Minnesota, and graduated from Anoka High School in 1961 after being active in debate and thespians as well as other extra curricular activities.

He was named "Most Likely to Succeed" by his classmates.

Constantine started his working career as a technical aid/programmer at M.I.T. Laboratory for Nuclear Science in 1963.

From 1963 to 1966 he was a staff consultant and programmer/analyst at C E I R, Inc. From 1966 to 1968 he was president of the Information & Systems Institute, Inc. In 1967 also he became a postgraduate program instructor at the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.

Constantine received an S.B. in management from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1967 with a specialization in information systems and psychology.

From 1968 to 1972 he was a faculty member of the I.B.M. Systems Research Institute.

His contributions to the practice of software development began in 1968 with his pioneering work in "Modular programming" concepts.

Constantine was the primary force behind the discipline of Structured Design, in his book of the same name.

The key features of Structured Design, such as Structure Chart, the Data flow diagram are all commonly used and taught worldwide.

Constantine, who learned programming at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, began his professional career in computers with a summer job at Scientific Computing, at the time a subsidiary of Control Data Corporation, in Minneapolis.

He went on to full-time work at MIT’s Laboratory for Nuclear Science, where he wrote routines for analyzing spark chamber photographs, and then to C-E-I-R, Inc., where he worked on economics simulations, business applications, project management tools, and programming languages.

While still an undergraduate at MIT he began work on what was to become structured design, formed his first consulting company, and taught in a postgraduate program at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School.

The core of structured design, including structure charts and coupling and cohesion metrics, was substantially complete by 1968, when it was presented at the National Symposium on Modular Programming.

He joined the faculty of IBM’s Systems Research Institute the same year, where he taught for four years and further refined his concepts.

As part of structured design, Constantine developed the concepts of cohesion (the degree to which the internal contents of a module are related) and coupling (the degree to which a module depends upon other modules).

These two concepts have been influential in the development of software engineering, and stand alone from structured design as significant contributions in their own right.

They have proved foundational in areas ranging from software design to software metrics, and indeed have passed into the vernacular of the discipline.

Constantine also developed methodologies that combine human-computer-interaction design with software engineering.

He received a certificate in family therapy 1973 from the Boston Family Institute, two-year post graduate training program.

In 1973 he became director of research, Concord, Massachusetts Family Service Society.

From 1973 to 1980 he was assistant clinical professor of psychiatry, Tufts University, School of Medicine.

Constantine trained under family therapy pioneers David Kantor and Fred and Bunny Duhl at the Boston Family Institute, completing a two-year postgraduate certificate program in 1973.

From 1984 to 1986 he was also clinical supervisor, adolescent and family intervention, LUK, Inc., Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

Until 1987 he was assistant professor of human development and family studies (adjunct), University of Connecticut.

From 1987 to 1993 he also worked as independent consultant.

He remained a chief scientist, principal consultant, Constantine & Lockwood, Ltd since 1993.

From 1994-1999 he was professor of information technology, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.

In 1999 Constantine received the Jolt Award for Product Excellence, best book of 1999 for his "Software for Use".

One methodology, usage-centered design, is the topic of his 1999 book with Lucy Lockwood, "Software For Use".

This is a third significant contribution to the field, being both well used in professional practice and the subject of academic study, and taught in a number of human-computer interface courses and universities around the world.

His work on human-computer interaction was influential for techniques like essential use cases and usage-centered design, which are widely used for building interactive software systems.

In 2001 he received the Platinum Award of Excellence (first place), Performance-Centered Design Competition 2001: Siemens AG, STEP-7 Lite.

Since 2006 has been a professor in the mathematics and engineering department at the University of Madeira Portugal, where he headed the Laboratory for Usage-centered Software Engineering (LabUSE), A former research center dedicated to study the human aspects of modern software engineering before becoming Institute Fellow at the Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute in 2010.

In 2006 he was recognized as a Distinguished Engineer by the Association for Computing Machinery, and in 2007 he was made a Fellow of the ACM.

He is the 2009 recipient of the Stevens Award for "outstanding contributions to the literature or practice of methods for software and systems development."

He received a Simon Rockower Award in 2011 from the American Jewish Press Association.

Constantine specializes in the human side of software development.

His published work includes the influential classic text, Structured Design, written with Ed Yourdon, and the award-winning "Software for Use", written with Lucy Lockwood.