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While the apprenticeship model is a good one and can work in software, I would be wary of such an effort considering how rapidly software evolves. Guilds work w

by pm90 7y ago

While the apprenticeship model is a good one and can work in software, I would be wary of such an effort considering how rapidly software evolves. Guilds work well for technologies that are fairly stable and require years of practice and study to get right (metal working, carpentry, plumbing, surgery etc.), while with software you could specialize in languages and frameworks that become obsolete in the order of decades. However, the idea of working closely with Senior Engineers and learning from them is certainly something that I vehemently agree with. I've been fortunate to have had that opportunity.

eximius 7y ago
While software engineering is growing and evolving, there's also a lot of cyclical fads that we should look past. Sure, there is the framework du jour, but the fundamentals of computer science and software engineering grow far slower. Mastery of frameworks is NOT mastery of our craft. They are useful tools that can come and go. But the underlying principles are what should concern is. To that point, none of your examples of stable disciplines are static. New surgical tools, techniques, and technology are constantly produced and surgeons must learn to lay down their old ones and adapt. Metalworking, carpentry, plumbing all need to learn about new materials developed and code changes. All of those things are like frameworks.