3 ms·
I hate these articles that compare software engineering to traditional engineering because the typical software engineer has very different requirements wrt fai
by curun1r 11y ago
I hate these articles that compare software engineering to traditional engineering because the typical software engineer has very different requirements wrt failure and budget than does the traditional engineer. There are examples [1] of software being written up to the standards of traditional engineering. It can be done, it's just very expensive and it almost always makes more sense financially to write software that's more likely to have bugs. When that doesn't make sense, more disciplined practices are used.
[1] http://www.fastcompany.com/28121/they-write-right-stuff http://www.fastcompany.com/28121/they-write-right-stuff
- catnaroek 11y agoWith respect to the linked article, that software development team might as well live in another planet. Sure, they develop software for a living, and so do many of us here, but their approach is so different from ours that they are effectively practitioners of a different profession. It is dishonest to insinuate that any programmer could perform well at a job consisting in developing error-free software.
- hackuser 11y agoThe Fast Company article is interesting; thanks. Readers should know that it's from 1996 (something not revealed until you reach the bottom).