"...while arguments over what algorithm or frameworks work best are less sexy than what the sciences cover, at least with narrow claims, it's easier to concrete

"...while arguments over what algorithm or frameworks work best are less sexy than what the sciences cover, at least with narrow claims, it's easier to concretely argue for one or the other..." Very few arguments related to programming are over algorithm choice, they are almost always over engineering concerns: readability, platform/language choice, frameworks, etc. Those, in turn, are often dependent on a mix of personal taste and predictions about the future (e.g. directions for the product architecture). So I don't think programmers are quite immune from non-scientific analysis. That's apparent from the longstanding programmer debates about basic things like compile-time type checking. Even narrowing the claims rarely seems to reach much consensus.