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You over-estimate the degree to which the other engineering fields you mentioned have solved safety and reliability. Just to name a few: - Tacoma Narrows bridg

You over-estimate the degree to which the other engineering fields you mentioned have solved safety and reliability. Just to name a few: - Tacoma Narrows bridge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge - Thalidomide: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide - Hyatt Regency walkway collapse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyatt_Regency_walkway_collapse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyatt_Regency_walkway_collapse - Challenger disaster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaste... - Columbia disaster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaste... - Vioxx: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rofecoxib https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rofecoxib ...and plenty more. The only thing that separates software engineering with the other engineering disciplines is that there is a structure (usually in the form of code/spec enforcement) for internalizing and learning from disasters when they happen.

minikites 9y ago
The Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse happened 80 years ago, the Hyatt Regency was nearly 40. When did you last read about a software bug?
- jcranmer 9y ago
  Phones that suddenly combust came out in 2016. The Big Dig ceiling collapse was 2006. Rana Plaza collapsed in 2013. Serious engineering failures are still happening. Sure, the most famous ones may be decades old, but those aren't the only ones.
- xenophonf 9y ago
  Professional engineering has plenty of recent disasters to point to, whether failures in design, construction, operation, or security: The Waco fertilizer plant explosion (2013), cause determined to be arson (2016) San Francisco Bay Bridge seismic bolt failures (2013), caused during construction: https://www.nace.org/CORROSION-FAILURES-San-Francisco-Bay-Bridge-Bolt-Failure.aspx https://www.nace.org/CORROSION-FAILURES-San-Francisco-Bay-Br... The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (2011), design/regulatory failure And so forth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Industrial_disasters_by_year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Industrial_disasters_... And so on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Engineering_failures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Engineering_failures

minikites 9y ago

The Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse happened 80 years ago, the Hyatt Regency was nearly 40. When did you last read about a software bug?

jcranmer 9y ago
Phones that suddenly combust came out in 2016. The Big Dig ceiling collapse was 2006. Rana Plaza collapsed in 2013. Serious engineering failures are still happening. Sure, the most famous ones may be decades old, but those aren't the only ones.
xenophonf 9y ago
Professional engineering has plenty of recent disasters to point to, whether failures in design, construction, operation, or security: The Waco fertilizer plant explosion (2013), cause determined to be arson (2016) San Francisco Bay Bridge seismic bolt failures (2013), caused during construction: https://www.nace.org/CORROSION-FAILURES-San-Francisco-Bay-Bridge-Bolt-Failure.aspx https://www.nace.org/CORROSION-FAILURES-San-Francisco-Bay-Br... The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (2011), design/regulatory failure And so forth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Industrial_disasters_by_year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Industrial_disasters_... And so on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Engineering_failures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Engineering_failures