> Knowing that the one who is possibly the most respected person in the field of computer science has an opinion that goes against the current trends gives us p

> Knowing that the one who is possibly the most respected person in the field of computer science has an opinion that goes against the current trends gives us perspective. Computer science is not software engineering. You also don't get physicists and mathematicians determine engineering best practices for precisely the same reason. For example, the reference to Shanley's design principle is not only wrong in it's core (aerospace engineering instead of civil engineering) it also completely misses the underlying design requirements and constraints. More precisely, aerospace pays a premium for weight, thus design requirements emphasize the need to optimize structural systems wrt structural weight. This design choice favours operational economy at the expense of production costs, maintainability, robustness, and simplifying analysis. None of this applies to software development, or even civil engineering structures. Appeals to authority are a dangerous fallacy.