In this episode of Pick Up the PaCE we’re starting the episode series, “The Core.” Before we get to the main topic, “Why is this so hard” were going to take a short detour and define some terms I’ve been throwing around.  We're going to define the terms mission-critical, and provide a cursory definition of high-quality. Then on to why software engineering of mission-critical, high-quality software systems is so hard. Subscribe to Pick Up The PaSE, rate and review. Send an email to "steve@pickupthepase.com" with any questions, comments, or suggestions.