Re:Why writing software is not like engineering (2008)
by jahewson on Sunday July 11, 2021 @12:05PM
(#27801956)
> If computer science wants to be engineering, I need to be capable of hiring an architect who makes plans that can be implemented by any supplier
You don’t though. This is just an artefact of the structure of your industry, being limited as it is by physical, geographic, and capital constraints. Software has none of those (capital used to be an issue but is no longer - this is perhaps why things are more flexible than 30yrs ago as you note).
You think you need these things because you see your role as an integrator - but software engineers already perform that function at a different level, via libraries and protocols.
You don’t though. This is just an artefact of the structure of your industry, being limited as it is by physical, geographic, and capital constraints. Software has none of those (capital used to be an issue but is no longer - this is perhaps why things are more flexible than 30yrs ago as you note).
You think you need these things because you see your role as an integrator - but software engineers already perform that function at a different level, via libraries and protocols.