Programming technology has improved immensely since its earliest days.
However, no single improvement can be classified as a silver bullet,
despite all claims of its proponents. A vexing question is why there
has been no silver bullet.  A variety of programming improvements,
i.e., models, methods, artifacts, and tools, are examined to determine
that each has a step that programmers find painful enough that they
habitually avoid or postpone the step. This pain is generally where the
programming accident meets the essence of software and its relentless
volatility. Hence, there is no silver bullet.  It is claimed no
substantial programming improvement can avoid all pain; therefore there
will never be a silver bullet.