Software, regulation, and domain specificity

The growing pervasiveness of computer systems is bringing with it more societal reliance on those systems, which in turn is attracting the attention of various legal and political entities. This increasing attention will, one way or another, result in more regulation. This paper discusses regulation and its various forms, its effects on software development, and the software development tools and techniques that can be used to respond effectively to the demands of regulation. In particular, the maturing of software technology is leading to domain specific solutions that fit the needs of both software developers and regulators.