Hard-to-swallow truths they won't tell you about software engineer job

Re:Hard-to-swallow truths they won't tell you about software... by codr7 on Wednesday November 08, 2023 @07:01PM (#38199053)

And that's my point exactly, every new software system is an experiment. No one has any idea if it's actually going to work out, it's all plug and pray.

If estimating research projects is as much a thing as SW, it's just as insane.

Pretending we know something we don't is lying.

Projections is another thing altogether, let's say we let this run for a month and then we have another look and see where we are. Much more connected to reality than pretending we know where everything is going from square 1.

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Re:Hard-to-swallow truths they won't tell you about software... by bumby on Wednesday November 08, 2023 @07:45PM (#38199390)

It’s not any more different than any new mechanical design. Every new car line or rocket design I worked on was an “experiment” just like every new software product. You seem to confuse engineering with mass production. They are two different things.

If you think you’ll get to do research without estimating cost and schedule, you won’t be a researcher for very long. Pretending you know something you don’t is bad project management. But what I’m advocating is estimating with transparency regarding uncertainty. Uncertainty can be quantified. Pretending software is some precious unicorn project that doesn’t have to follow any process is just rationalizing bad process management.

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