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I think comparing software development to traditional civil, mechanical or electrical engineering is flawed (apples and oranges). When this guy claims they are
by proee 16y ago
I think comparing software development to traditional civil, mechanical or electrical engineering is flawed (apples and oranges).
When this guy claims they are doing something that has never been done before, they are taking orders-of-magnitude higher risks than any new sort of traditional software development project.
When's the last time you started a new software project thinking "gee, I wonder if this will explode into a giant fireball if my calculations are off?" No. You probably write your code, then run it, and if you see a problem you make changes and then repeat.
Does the fact that they are drilling for oil a mile below the surface of the ocean strike you as something quite magical? I'd say the entire drilling platform is an amazing engineering feat, and it likely requires a lot of wild-wild west engineering to make it a viable product.
- neutronicus 16y agoI work on nuclear reactor monitoring software... So, "melt into a superheated puddle of neutron-emitting slag", while not quite as dramatic as "explode into a giant fireball", is quite possible if the senior software and methods engineers at my company (and the many, many people the NRC involves in verifying and validating our code packages) collectively screw up.
- proee 16y agoVery true, but if that's the case you're probably writing some code that requires engineering (i.e. a control system or requiring an understanding of the engineering system that you're writing code for). If that's the case then you're probably wearing the hat of an engineer.