Abstract
Software construction has typically drawn on engineering metaphors like building bridges or cathedrals, which emphasize architecture, specification, central planning, and determinism. Approaches to correctness have drawn on metaphors from mathematics, like formal proofs. However, these approaches have failed to scale to modern software systems, and the problem keeps getting worse. We believe that the time has come to completely re-imagine the creation of complex software, drawing on systems in which behavior is decentralized, self-regulating, non-deterministic, and emergent - like economies. In this paper we describe our vision for, and prelimary work on, the creation of software economies for both open systems and internal corporate development, and our plans to deploy these ideas within one of the largest developer communities at IBM. Copyright 2010 ACM.