5 ms·
I would be surprised if we didn’t get great software for making software. We have the domain knowledge. Software engineers are not meteorologist nor doctors. W
by juancn 6y ago
I would be surprised if we didn’t get great software for making software. We have the domain knowledge.
Software engineers are not meteorologist nor doctors. We don’t want to know or understand meteorology or whatever doctors do, we like software (i.e. the problem solving).
HIPPA, atmospheric models, etc. are not why engineers get into it. So it takes effort to learn enough of a domain to build software for it.
It’s so hard and annoying to do that we even invented entire disciplines to be better at it: Scrum, Domain Driven Design, etc.
We do that for money because we find those domains incredibly boring or we just don’t want to spend the time learning about them.
Building good domain specific software requires a lot of domain specific knowledge.
- loopz 6y agoYeah, all those pesky domains standing in the way of great CRUD software! All we want is to pass and transform stringers damnit.
- ximm 6y agoThe inverse is also true though: We not only have the domain knowledge it takes to build software for ourselves, we also have the domain knowledge to use that software to its full potential. Meteorologist do not have the deep knowledge to apply software effectively. I know we should strive for software that is usable for everyone. But in reality I believe this is a huge factor. I am not saying that meteorologist (or any other non-programmers) are to blame for that. But I believe we have to acknowledge that fact to be able to overcome it.
- juancn 6y agoThat's a very good point. We also make the most of the software we use (even crappy one) because we can usually see the thought process behind it (even if it's misguided and twisted).
- onion2k 6y agoSoftware engineers are not meteorologist nor doctors. Why not? People can be more than one thing. Heck, you're posting on HN. Are you really saying people can't be a software engineer and a salesperson? Or a software engineer and a CEO? Or a software engineer and a business analyst? You have to be those things to launch a tech startup. Lots of people wear more than one hat.
- a_square_peg 6y agoI'm not sure if this is a serious comment. On one hand you have professions and roles where failures are measured in lost revenue versus another where failures are measured in lost lives.
- onion2k 6y agoSoftware failures can, and do, cost lives. If you believe the worst thing that can happen as a software engineer is that you might lose a company some money then you are very, very wrong.
- Aeolun 6y agoI very much doubt that most of us are in a position to do more than make a customer sad.
- a_square_peg 6y agoI mostly worked with safety-critical software on avionics and lately with software on medical device so I hope I do understand. Rather than downplaying the role of software, my point was on pointing out that meteorologists and medical doctors are specialist roles requiring years of focused training. These aren't one of many hats that can be worn by a generalist.
- onion2k 6y agomy point was on pointing out that meteorologists and medical doctors are specialist roles requiring years of focused training Yes, and my point is that there are plenty of doctors and probably most meterologists who write code as part of their jobs. Meterology is statistical modelling at heart, and that requires lots of code. Don't forget that we get soemthing like 40 years of our careers; there's plenty of time to become an expert in a field and then to learn how to write code to build tools to do it better.
- true_religion 6y agoThose are indeed specialist roles, but nothing is stopping a potential doctor from taking software engineering in undergrad, or from keeping up with the field while working through med school. I had a teammate who did the later.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]