By Jon Collins
Software development is alive and kicking. Indeed, we say this every year – it’s a useful counterpoint to the blog-accelerated perception that the only coding taking place these days is the clever use of scripting languages to customise packages or develop Web application front ends. While the pundits may wax lyrical about mash-ups and Ruby, the majority of developers are quietly getting on with building the software and packages upon which today’s organisations depend………