I think we're outliers in a couple of ways. One is what you mention -- we're usually both the architects and the construction crews of our projects, and we do

I think we're outliers in a couple of ways. One is what you mention -- we're usually both the architects and the construction crews of our projects, and we do both parts at the same time. But there's also a step back -- how long does it take you to fully design, but not program, a particular piece of software? If you give a general contractor a particular set of blueprints, he can tell you roughly how long it will take to build, both the ideal number (if there are no scheduling or shipping delays) and what it probably will end up being. But if you tell an architect you want a design for a particular size and purpose and style of building, she can also tell you roughly how long it will take to draw that up. How long does it take to design a particular piece of software? What makes a design take a day or a month to iron out, well enough that you can get a correct estimate of the amount of time it will take to build it? I don't think we're good at that, as a profession.