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Software developement is an unconstrained field. Computers can do almost anything you dream up. You don't need expensive tools, space, raw materials, or lots of
by blt 7y ago
Software developement is an unconstrained field. Computers can do almost anything you dream up. You don't need expensive tools, space, raw materials, or lots of people to make it. Contrast with building a car, where strength of materials, wear and tear, safety requirements, etc. make the design space kind of small.
In other words, there are fewer decisions that can be resolved by "option A is the only way to meet constraints x, y, and z simultaneously."
- odyssey7 7y agoSimilarly, you have a better sense of the cost of different materials in a car, but pricing React vs Vue vs jQuery is a lot fuzzier. Especially since software may or may not get extended whereas a car doesn't get updated a lot after being purchased.
- solomatov 7y agoIt's not true, we have a plenty of constraints: memory, cpu, battery consumption, latency, etc. We also have complexity constraints, i.e. how qualified our teams, which technologies, they know, etc. IMO, many combinations are just impossible, just like in mechanical engineering, and even worse, complexity is often much higher.
- blt 7y agoI think many programmers work on projects where computer hardware limitations have little impact on the code design.