4 ms·

I have an acquaintance who works in the Gulf of Mexico anchoring platforms to the sea floor. They rate their anchors by the size of the storms they're engineer

I have an acquaintance who works in the Gulf of Mexico anchoring platforms to the sea floor. They rate their anchors by the size of the storms they're engineered to withstand - a 10 year storm, a 100 year storm, etc. It's more difficult and correspondingly more expensive to place a "100 year storm" anchor. It's hard to argue with the reality that not all jobs require "100 year storm" anchors. Arguing that software engineering is different is a result of inexperience. Not everything we build needs a "Rolls Royce" level of polish or a "Golden Gate Bridge" level of reliability nor is it a sustainable approach. Economic realities will drag your architecture astronauts back to Earth. Spend time understanding the needs of your critical infrastructure and design for that.

fusiongyro 14y ago
The message I got from this article is that there is something deeply satisfying about doing "100 year storm" work, not than that it is economically feasible or wise. The reference to woodworking and how unprofitable it is seems to imply that it is inherently uneconomical. Not everything we build needs "Rolls Royce" level of polish, but it might be nice to build a few things to that level of polish. Compared to the amount of code that is being written, vanishingly little of it, if any, is really being built to stand the test of time, even if it is being built to very high standards.
- ohjeez 14y ago
  I'm the author of that post. And I certainly did not mean to imply that 100-year-furniture is not economical! It costs more in the short-term (for instance, the Stickley couch I bought was $6,000), but I know it'll last for decades, so I don't begrudge a cent of that expense. Especially since it's so gosh-durn beautiful and comfortable and does exactly what I want -- just as good software does.
  - jfoutz 14y ago
    I got my great grandma's couch reupholstered. The couch itself was free to me and I expect it to outlive me as well. I'm pretty sure she didn't get it new. I'm guessing manufactured in 1880 or so. I dunno. It's pretty comfortable, and as you say, that couch problem is solved.
  - fusiongyro 14y ago
    I'm sorry for both misunderstanding and misrepresenting your argument. I'll have to give a proper response some thought.
    - ohjeez 14y ago
      Thank you for such a gracious reply! In turn, I should apologize for writing something that could so easily be misinterpreted.
      - fusiongyro 14y ago
        Oh hardly!
Someone 14y ago
100 years is peanuts, relative to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maeslantkering http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maeslantkering, which was designed for a 10,000 year storm. Basically, the greater the damage if anything goes wrong, the sturdier things should be. This one has been in operation for 15 years, but has never been truly used yet.

fusiongyro 14y ago

The message I got from this article is that there is something deeply satisfying about doing "100 year storm" work, not than that it is economically feasible or wise. The reference to woodworking and how unprofitable it is seems to imply that it is inherently uneconomical. Not everything we build needs "Rolls Royce" level of polish, but it might be nice to build a few things to that level of polish. Compared to the amount of code that is being written, vanishingly little of it, if any, is really being built to stand the test of time, even if it is being built to very high standards.

ohjeez 14y ago
I'm the author of that post. And I certainly did not mean to imply that 100-year-furniture is not economical! It costs more in the short-term (for instance, the Stickley couch I bought was $6,000), but I know it'll last for decades, so I don't begrudge a cent of that expense. Especially since it's so gosh-durn beautiful and comfortable and does exactly what I want -- just as good software does.
- jfoutz 14y ago
  I got my great grandma's couch reupholstered. The couch itself was free to me and I expect it to outlive me as well. I'm pretty sure she didn't get it new. I'm guessing manufactured in 1880 or so. I dunno. It's pretty comfortable, and as you say, that couch problem is solved.
- fusiongyro 14y ago
  I'm sorry for both misunderstanding and misrepresenting your argument. I'll have to give a proper response some thought.
  - ohjeez 14y ago
    Thank you for such a gracious reply! In turn, I should apologize for writing something that could so easily be misinterpreted.
    - fusiongyro 14y ago
      Oh hardly!

Someone 14y ago

100 years is peanuts, relative to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maeslantkering http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maeslantkering, which was designed for a 10,000 year storm. Basically, the greater the damage if anything goes wrong, the sturdier things should be. This one has been in operation for 15 years, but has never been truly used yet.