4 ms·

If only there was a specific job title for people whose primary job was to "engineer" software.

by skwb 6y ago

ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
There seem to be many definitions of "Engineer." I consider myself to be an "Engineer," but I forgot all my calculus, many years ago (atrophied). There are those that assume any "Engineer" must know calculus. I consider myself to be an "Engineer," but I fail miserably at most of the binary tree employment exams. There are those that assume that any "Engineer" must know binary trees (I never came up through a CS curriculum, and, in 35 years of coding, I have never run into one single binary tree). I consider myself to be an "Engineer," but have never sat for any kind of board exam. There are those that assume that any "Engineer" should have at least one board certificate on their wall. I consider myself to be an "Engineer," but hold no college degree or certificate even remotely connected to software development. There are those that assume that any "Engineer" should have at least one "Engineering" sheepskin on their wall. What I do have, however, is 35 years of consistently delivering (as opposed to just "writing") software products. Not all were ones that have made me proud, but I have always been about "ship." I still keep that up, today, even for free, open-source projects. I have Discipline. Lots of Discipline. I write reasonably efficient, localized, accessible, error-checking, high-quality code, that can be maintained after I move on. I practice Configuration Management. I have a consistent coding style. I have consistent processes, even though it may seem as if I am "shooting from the hip." I write about that here: https://medium.com/chrismarshallny https://medium.com/chrismarshallny (several articles cover my process). I try to keep up with current, practical technology without getting sucked into the "buzzword maelstrom." I practice and support Usability, Localization, and Accessibility in my work. I take all that extra time to make sure that my code is "ship" code; not just "code." That means lots of really boring stuff that always takes a lot longer than I'd like. I test my code six ways to Sunday (My testing code usually dwarfs the product code. I write about that here: https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/testing-harness-vs-unit-498766c499aa https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/testing-harness-vs-unit-4...). I document the living bejeezus out of my code (I write about that here: https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/leaving-a-legacy-1c2ddb0c8014 https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/leaving-a-legacy-1c2ddb0c...). I have always stood behind my code; taking Responsibility and Accountability. Never lying, and admitting (and fixing) failings, learning from those that went before me; while treating my superiors, peers, and subordinates with the utmost respect. I have always been keenly aware of the way that my customers used my code, and have always welcomed negative feedback (I write about that here: https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/the-road-most-traveled-by-9a66249bbfd6 https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/the-road-most-traveled-by... -scroll down to "Negative Feedback Is Incredibly Valuable"). I am not afraid to admit ignorance, or ask questions. Almost every project I start, I don't know how to do. I write about that here: https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/thats-not-what-ships-are-built-for-595f4ae2c284 https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/thats-not-what-ships-are-... Apparently, my employers also considered me to be an "Engineer," despite these awful failings. I had them fooled, eh?
- the-dude 6y ago
  Lots of I
  - ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
    Yup. I learned not to use "you" very much on teh internets tubes. People like...well...you...don't like being dictated to. I've learned the value of speaking from personal experience, as opposed to vague, hand-wavy, often passive-aggressive, "keyboard warrior" stuff. I find that personal experience, and personal ethos tends to be a lot more relevant to most folks, over personal opinion, especially when it is applied as a projection. In fact, one of my editing disciplines is to do a search-and-replace for "you" and replace it with "I" or "me." You'll see a lot of "we," "us," and "our" in my writing, as well. FUN FACT: Did you know that I nuked a number of passive-aggressive slaps from this posting? I'm a really experienced troll. I have made it a point to change my stripes. One way that I am doing this, is putting my brand and personal information behind everything I post.
seph-reed 6y ago
Developers build row houses. Engineers design complex machinery. I try not to go by "Software Developer" anymore because too many managers have gotten the idea that it's something you just do. Which it is if you're only working in frameworks... the stick houses of code.

If only there was a specific job title for people whose primary job was to "engineer" software.

by skwb 6y ago

If only there was a specific job title for people whose primary job was to "engineer" software.

There seem to be many definitions of "Engineer." I consider myself to be an "Engineer," but I forgot all my calculus, many years ago (atrophied). There are those that assume any "Engineer" must know calculus. I consider myself to be an "Engineer," but I fail miserably at most of the binary tree employment exams. There are those that assume that any "Engineer" must know binary trees (I never came up through a CS curriculum, and, in 35 years of coding, I have never run into one single binary tree). I consider myself to be an "Engineer," but have never sat for any kind of board exam. There are those that assume that any "Engineer" should have at least one board certificate on their wall. I consider myself to be an "Engineer," but hold no college degree or certificate even remotely connected to software development. There are those that assume that any "Engineer" should have at least one "Engineering" sheepskin on their wall. What I do have, however, is 35 years of consistently delivering (as opposed to just "writing") software products. Not all were ones that have made me proud, but I have always been about "ship." I still keep that up, today, even for free, open-source projects. I have Discipline. Lots of Discipline. I write reasonably efficient, localized, accessible, error-checking, high-quality code, that can be maintained after I move on. I practice Configuration Management. I have a consistent coding style. I have consistent processes, even though it may seem as if I am "shooting from the hip." I write about that here: https://medium.com/chrismarshallny https://medium.com/chrismarshallny (several articles cover my process). I try to keep up with current, practical technology without getting sucked into the "buzzword maelstrom." I practice and support Usability, Localization, and Accessibility in my work. I take all that extra time to make sure that my code is "ship" code; not just "code." That means lots of really boring stuff that always takes a lot longer than I'd like. I test my code six ways to Sunday (My testing code usually dwarfs the product code. I write about that here: https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/testing-harness-vs-unit-498766c499aa https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/testing-harness-vs-unit-4...). I document the living bejeezus out of my code (I write about that here: https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/leaving-a-legacy-1c2ddb0c8014 https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/leaving-a-legacy-1c2ddb0c...). I have always stood behind my code; taking Responsibility and Accountability. Never lying, and admitting (and fixing) failings, learning from those that went before me; while treating my superiors, peers, and subordinates with the utmost respect. I have always been keenly aware of the way that my customers used my code, and have always welcomed negative feedback (I write about that here: https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/the-road-most-traveled-by-9a66249bbfd6 https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/the-road-most-traveled-by... -scroll down to "Negative Feedback Is Incredibly Valuable"). I am not afraid to admit ignorance, or ask questions. Almost every project I start, I don't know how to do. I write about that here: https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/thats-not-what-ships-are-built-for-595f4ae2c284 https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/thats-not-what-ships-are-... Apparently, my employers also considered me to be an "Engineer," despite these awful failings. I had them fooled, eh?

the-dude 6y ago
Lots of I
- ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
  Yup. I learned not to use "you" very much on teh internets tubes. People like...well...you...don't like being dictated to. I've learned the value of speaking from personal experience, as opposed to vague, hand-wavy, often passive-aggressive, "keyboard warrior" stuff. I find that personal experience, and personal ethos tends to be a lot more relevant to most folks, over personal opinion, especially when it is applied as a projection. In fact, one of my editing disciplines is to do a search-and-replace for "you" and replace it with "I" or "me." You'll see a lot of "we," "us," and "our" in my writing, as well. FUN FACT: Did you know that I nuked a number of passive-aggressive slaps from this posting? I'm a really experienced troll. I have made it a point to change my stripes. One way that I am doing this, is putting my brand and personal information behind everything I post.

seph-reed 6y ago

Developers build row houses. Engineers design complex machinery. I try not to go by "Software Developer" anymore because too many managers have gotten the idea that it's something you just do. Which it is if you're only working in frameworks... the stick houses of code.