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I don't buy it. I think the real problem is that software became one of the worlds biggest commodities practically overnight and developers are usually more inc

I don't buy it. I think the real problem is that software became one of the worlds biggest commodities practically overnight and developers are usually more incentivized to get stuff done faster rather than produce higher quality. There's practically no material cost to software development, the proliferation of the internet makes patching trivial, and the overwhelming majority of software amounts to an nothing more than an inconvenience if it fails. Considering the high value of software and the relatively low cost of bugs, it's only natural that speed is valued so much more than quality.

EnderMB 7y ago
I'd go even further with this. I'd say that most software engineers are ultimately powerless to improve software beyond a certain point because doing so would cost more than their employer is willing to spend. Given enough time, any software engineer could make a reasonably solid product/service that would stand the test of time. Most projects are run on a deficit of either time or resource, and as a result we end up with cut corners.
lloeki 7y ago
Ironically it seems people as well as society as a whole fails to account that a zillion times inconvenience is death by a thousand cuts. This includes everyone writing code. Goddammit when you take a long, hard look, objectively (like really) stepping back for a moment, every piece of software (and hardware to some extent as the line between both is getting blurry) around us is just a huge pile of Rube Goldberg machinery that barely happens to work on the happy path. This process is not entirely unlike global warming and similar large scale psychological risk assessment failures.
- sitkack 7y ago
  And each individual piece might not be mission critical, but some mission critical component of the system relies on some non-mission critical piece of software or service. The more I look at how fragile all human created systems are, I realize that humanity will perish with the equivalent of tripping over its shoelaces. Own goal!
imtringued 7y ago
New categories of software are created every single day. Things like databases, compilers, filesystems that belong to the well known categories are all rock solid compared to your average iPhone or Android app whose app stores have existed for slightly more than a decade.

EnderMB 7y ago

I'd go even further with this. I'd say that most software engineers are ultimately powerless to improve software beyond a certain point because doing so would cost more than their employer is willing to spend. Given enough time, any software engineer could make a reasonably solid product/service that would stand the test of time. Most projects are run on a deficit of either time or resource, and as a result we end up with cut corners.

lloeki 7y ago

Ironically it seems people as well as society as a whole fails to account that a zillion times inconvenience is death by a thousand cuts. This includes everyone writing code. Goddammit when you take a long, hard look, objectively (like really) stepping back for a moment, every piece of software (and hardware to some extent as the line between both is getting blurry) around us is just a huge pile of Rube Goldberg machinery that barely happens to work on the happy path. This process is not entirely unlike global warming and similar large scale psychological risk assessment failures.

sitkack 7y ago
And each individual piece might not be mission critical, but some mission critical component of the system relies on some non-mission critical piece of software or service. The more I look at how fragile all human created systems are, I realize that humanity will perish with the equivalent of tripping over its shoelaces. Own goal!

imtringued 7y ago

New categories of software are created every single day. Things like databases, compilers, filesystems that belong to the well known categories are all rock solid compared to your average iPhone or Android app whose app stores have existed for slightly more than a decade.