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A comment on Why Computer Programmers Should Stop Calling Themselves Engineers.

Re:Why Computer Programmers Should Stop Calling Themselves E... by yawaramin on Saturday April 14, 2018 @12:55AM (#16835951)
The author seems to think that today's software is all created in short, barely-planned bursts of activity. They've heard of agile and scrum, and decided to lump everything together in there. The truth is there are high-assurance systems out there which go through extreme vetting and safety checks. Techniques like formal verification, model checking, and design by contract are all used to engineer safe systems.

There's no doubt that, at a certain level of quality assurance, what software developers do is truly engineering.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why Computer Programmers Should Stop Calling Themselves E... by psyc on Saturday April 14, 2018 @01:36AM (#16836064)
I'm generally opposed to the software-as-engineering metaphor, but I actually agree with what you're saying here. The problem is that in 20 years, I've never worked on a team that came within 100 miles of what you're describing. On every team I've been on, at software companies of all sizes, it goes like this:

"I like SOLID." "No, I don't like SOLID." "I think exceptions should only be thrown in truly exceptional circumstances." "No, I think you should throw at the faintest whiff of the unexpected." "I like short methods." "No, I like long methods. You can see the whole flow."

And so on. And the resulting standard for the team might as well be chosen by coin flips.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why Computer Programmers Should Stop Calling Themselves E... by pishpash on Saturday April 14, 2018 @12:59AM (#16835961)
And how much of each is there? Some of the most important software infrastructures were built years ago at the dawn of computing (telephone, banking, etc.) when experts and artisans ruled the field. Now anybody who does a few weeks of bootcamp or watches some online videos calls themselves an engineer and pushes out crap code to the masses.
[ Parent | on HN ]