Managing the Development of Large Software Systems.

Why this matters here

Winston W. Royce’s 1970 paper on managing large software systems outlined staged development—requirements, design, implementation, testing, release—as a way to plan and coordinate work at scale. Coupling reads that sequencing historically as a coordination solution for milestones, reporting, and contractual accountability rather than merely a failed methodology later nicknamed waterfall. Royce proposed structure under scale; the book asks what happens when early commitments harden before consequences of those decisions arrive.