4 ms·

I saw a quote on here awhile back. Not sure from where or who said it originally. It was exactly what you realized. We would have intergalactic space travel an

by pests 3y ago

I saw a quote on here awhile back. Not sure from where or who said it originally. It was exactly what you realized. We would have intergalactic space travel and von neumann probes by now if it wasn't for software. Materials science, energy production, construction - all solved problems. We just don't have the computer engineering skills to make it all work. I think this also touches on another thing I've always felt about software engineering - we are not a professional field. I have seen programmers complain about having to read the documentation for their tools or that they have to go fix 100 instances of some issue. Contrast this to an engineer on a skyscraper for example - you would never hear "you cant expect me to go re-torque all 1000 bolts! its not my fault the spec sheet put that information 3/4ths into the manual. i didnt get that far!" - but this is exactly how I've seen people treat computer engineering.

fn-mote 3y ago
> Contrast this to an engineer on a skyscraper for example - you would never hear "you cant expect me to go re-torque all 1000 bolts! I'm going to guess that those engineers exist and they just don't work on skyscrapers... or they have software tools that make it easy... or they get paid by the hour and are fine with it. I have no idea what kind of software engineering projects you work on, but perhaps you and I both work with a lot of people that would (should?!) never be allowed near the skyscraper-equivalent software.
- cratermoon 3y ago
  > skyscraper-equivalent software As far as I know, once skyscrapers are built, they tend to stay where they are. Spacecraft, on the other hand, move around, and do so at astonishing velocities, and need to have hyper-accurate navigation and control. For skyscrapers, modeling the forces that act on the materials and the environment works on known quantities, based on thousands of years of building experience. The biggest failings with spacecraft involved the guidance and navigation systems: the ones that determine where it is, how fast it's moving and in what direction, and how and when to fire the engines to change velocity. The hard part is autonomous control, not static design.
  - namibj 3y ago
    Some, like the Millennium Tower in SF, do suffer from problems that risk flattening entire neighborhoods.
    - cratermoon 3y ago
      Yes, and that was a failure in modeling the behavior of the building's supports when subjected to high winds. There's no computer controlling the building's position with a bug that will cause it to flip over and self-destruct. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariane_flight_V88 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariane_flight_V88
      - pests 3y ago
        If only we could build better software.....
cratermoon 3y ago
> intergalactic space travel No amount of engineering will make that likely, outside of science fiction. Even in fiction, intergalactic travel is rare compared to mere interstellar travel.

by pests 3y ago

fn-mote 3y ago

> Contrast this to an engineer on a skyscraper for example - you would never hear "you cant expect me to go re-torque all 1000 bolts! I'm going to guess that those engineers exist and they just don't work on skyscrapers... or they have software tools that make it easy... or they get paid by the hour and are fine with it. I have no idea what kind of software engineering projects you work on, but perhaps you and I both work with a lot of people that would (should?!) never be allowed near the skyscraper-equivalent software.

cratermoon 3y ago
> skyscraper-equivalent software As far as I know, once skyscrapers are built, they tend to stay where they are. Spacecraft, on the other hand, move around, and do so at astonishing velocities, and need to have hyper-accurate navigation and control. For skyscrapers, modeling the forces that act on the materials and the environment works on known quantities, based on thousands of years of building experience. The biggest failings with spacecraft involved the guidance and navigation systems: the ones that determine where it is, how fast it's moving and in what direction, and how and when to fire the engines to change velocity. The hard part is autonomous control, not static design.
- namibj 3y ago
  Some, like the Millennium Tower in SF, do suffer from problems that risk flattening entire neighborhoods.
  - cratermoon 3y ago
    Yes, and that was a failure in modeling the behavior of the building's supports when subjected to high winds. There's no computer controlling the building's position with a bug that will cause it to flip over and self-destruct. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariane_flight_V88 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariane_flight_V88
    - pests 3y ago
      If only we could build better software.....

cratermoon 3y ago

> intergalactic space travel No amount of engineering will make that likely, outside of science fiction. Even in fiction, intergalactic travel is rare compared to mere interstellar travel.