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A comment on Things a Non-Engineer Should Know Before Founding a Web Startup. Parent comment

Re:Things a Non-Engineer Should Know Before Founding a Web S... by alextgordon on Tuesday April 27, 2010 @09:29PM (#1300418)
Engineers precisely specify a problem and then build a solution that's correct to within a tolerance. I'm afraid I don't see the resemblance to programming.
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Re:Things a Non-Engineer Should Know Before Founding a Web S... by troystribling on Tuesday April 27, 2010 @10:04PM (#1300491)
A very precise definition of an engineer? Engineers build tools. Artists build amusements. Scientists build ideas. Programmer = Engineer.
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Re:Things a Non-Engineer Should Know Before Founding a Web S... by njharman on Wednesday April 28, 2010 @10:02AM (#1301560)
By those definitions I'd consider Software Development as Sciartiginering. It's easier to say developer though.
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Re:Things a Non-Engineer Should Know Before Founding a Web S... by troystribling on Wednesday April 28, 2010 @10:39PM (#1303420)
I have done all three and the motivations and results of each are distinct. If you are Sciartiginering you are not building software. Maybe ASCII art?
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Re:Things a Non-Engineer Should Know Before Founding a Web S... by argv_empty on Tuesday April 27, 2010 @11:33PM (#1300647)
You could describe programming that way too, though the "within a tolerance" would probably have to be about input coverage rather than output/behavior.
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Re:Things a Non-Engineer Should Know Before Founding a Web S... by donaq on Tuesday April 27, 2010 @10:11PM (#1300517)
That depends on the program, I suppose. Some programs require more engineering than others. I think you could make a very good argument for the programmers at Google being engineers.
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