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This made me think about the book "Shop class as soul craft". Cars use to be made by hand by skilled artisans. So did software. As with any process of produc
by ErikRogneby 13y ago
This made me think about the book "Shop class as soul craft". Cars use to be made by hand by skilled artisans. So did software.
As with any process of production the move to change it in to a documented repeatable process complete with middle management has taken place.
- stcredzero 13y agoApparently, Japanese electronics firms succeeded at this in the 80s and 90s with embedded control of digital appliances.
- beat 13y agoI love that book. It explains a lot of the value of being a software developer - craftsmanship. Then again, anything in software that can be made a "documented repeatable process" in a really deep way can simply be replaced with a well-designed piece of software. So software is all craftsmanship, because everything that doesn't actually need to be craft, we automate away pretty quickly.
- VLM 13y agoLegendary epic fails would seem to abolish the concept of the "repeatable process". Imagine how silly novel authors, or fine arts painters, or technical paper authors, or poets, would look if they spent lots of time debating the "one" "true" way to produce. A good interview question isn't how would you install the cylinder head bolts on the millionth model T engine quicker, its more like how would you paint the Sistine Chapel quicker? Are you changing the world with code or just shoveling out stereotypical CRUD app number 32515?
- mcguire 13y agoOn the other hand, cars are still made by hand by skilled artisans. They are assembled by an assembly line on a factory floor by a documented, repeatable process. A better analogy might be: how do you go from a blank whiteboard to Ford Fusion Hybrid #1?