3 ms·

Much like plumbers where clients don't understand the issue and yell at you for "excessive billing" or asking for discounts.

• dcow 5y ago
  People always look at me weird when I call software dev digital plumbing. Then they come back the next day and say, “actually I was thinking about it and you’re totally right!…”.
  • dqpb 5y ago
    It depends on the scale though right? Plumbing a city has different problems than plumbing a bathroom.
    • dcow 5y ago
      Plumbing isn’t meant to be a reduction. You’re still solving problems. But at the end of the day the data must flow.
      • dqpb 5y ago
        But the complexity of the network can result in emergent properties that are at a different layer of abstraction than fitting pipes together.
  • Jensson 5y ago
    Software engineer can be similar to plumbing, an maybe for most jobs it is. But it can be so many other things as well. Writing a game isn't much like that at all for example.
    • dcow 5y ago
      Depends on what part of the game you’re working on, I imagine. Building a game (or any software product) is probably more like building a house. You need architects and designers and painters and carpenters and masons and electricians and plumbers. If you do frontend stuff you’re more like a mason or carpenter. Backend more like electrician and plumbing. Systems design -> architect. Interaction/UX design -> designer.