3 ms·

real engineering is full of the same examples. i’m thinking of civil infrastructure but there is no shortage in any domain

• ashtonkem 5y ago
  The 19th century is full of “real engineering” that is frankly clown shoes stuff. Stories about how early truss bridges were designed makes modern software engineering seem quite orderly by comparison.
  • sidlls 5y ago
    I've always been amused at this comparison. You're not wrong. We wouldn't tolerate or excuse a group of people attempting engineering based on 19th century practices. Why should we excuse software engineers (if, indeed, their goal is to be "engineers" in any meaningful sense) for not building on the last two centuries of engineering knowledge?
    • ashtonkem 5y ago
      Because software engineering is not the same as mechanical engineering. We’ve tried to apply mechanical engineering principles to software projects; it didn’t work.