It has not been mentioned that software engineering differs from other types of engineering (like civil engineering) in that it builds abstract objects (softwar

It has not been mentioned that software engineering differs from other types of engineering (like civil engineering) in that it builds abstract objects (software) that are then expected to function in a number of differing material contexts (hardware). Think about how strange that is. Engineers building a bridge for example translate their ideas into specific arrangements of carefully chosen material. The software engineer builds for a limited number of reasonable architectures and for a virtually unlimited number of hardware in various states of disrepair. It is a testament to human ingenuity that software works at all as well as it does. For this reason, the example Shuttle's software misses the mark. Writing code for a single known device is by orders of magnitude a simpler problem than writing code for numerous permutations of hardware.