3 ms·

That would actually be a very, very interesting read.

krisoft 3y ago
I don't have an article for you, but this is a topic I discussed with a friend who works as an architect of buildings. His main points were: - programming is way easier because you get instantaneous feedback[1]. When he has an idea it will take sometimes tens of years for it to be realised. (if ever) - the rules they operate under are not deterministic. They might design a building which is totally fine under one interpretation of the regulations and fails under an other. Sometimes what actually changed is not even the interpretation of the rules, but things outside of their control such as the political favours of the investors behind the building. If plan reviewers want to find some problem with your thing they will. - builders replace materials and techniques often, sometimes even without discussing it with the architects. In programming you don't have to worry that your compiler cheapens out and replaces the doubles you declared with single floats. - With programming if you don't like what you made you just rewrite it[1]. With his line of work once you know know that something is wrong it is way too late to change anything. Heaps of money has been spent and years are passed. Because of reputational and liability reasons this leads to a mindset where you are unlikely to accept that there was ever anything wrong with your idea thus architects become solidly set in their thinking. - Everything he thinks is mediated through layers and layers of other people. If something goes wrong he can always blame the builder, or the owner or the occupier. This leads to even less honest self-reflection. 1: A common theme in all of this is that what he has experience with is very small scale coding. He knows that a compiler provides instant feedback on syntax errors and he thinks that is all there to software development. We who work in the industry know that feedback loops are not always that fast in Software Engineering , but those parts of the work were not experienced by him.
- AdamN 3y ago
  Interesting feedback. As you rightly point out, in major tech projects most of these advantages to software don't hold up (determinism, rapid feedback loops, etc...). So I guess everybody is squeezed no matter where they are :-)

I don't have an article for you, but this is a topic I discussed with a friend who works as an architect of buildings. His main points were: - programming is way easier because you get instantaneous feedback[1]. When he has an idea it will take sometimes tens of years for it to be realised. (if ever) - the rules they operate under are not deterministic. They might design a building which is totally fine under one interpretation of the regulations and fails under an other. Sometimes what actually changed is not even the interpretation of the rules, but things outside of their control such as the political favours of the investors behind the building. If plan reviewers want to find some problem with your thing they will. - builders replace materials and techniques often, sometimes even without discussing it with the architects. In programming you don't have to worry that your compiler cheapens out and replaces the doubles you declared with single floats. - With programming if you don't like what you made you just rewrite it[1]. With his line of work once you know know that something is wrong it is way too late to change anything. Heaps of money has been spent and years are passed. Because of reputational and liability reasons this leads to a mindset where you are unlikely to accept that there was ever anything wrong with your idea thus architects become solidly set in their thinking. - Everything he thinks is mediated through layers and layers of other people. If something goes wrong he can always blame the builder, or the owner or the occupier. This leads to even less honest self-reflection. 1: A common theme in all of this is that what he has experience with is very small scale coding. He knows that a compiler provides instant feedback on syntax errors and he thinks that is all there to software development. We who work in the industry know that feedback loops are not always that fast in Software Engineering , but those parts of the work were not experienced by him.

AdamN 3y ago
Interesting feedback. As you rightly point out, in major tech projects most of these advantages to software don't hold up (determinism, rapid feedback loops, etc...). So I guess everybody is squeezed no matter where they are :-)