tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5135517.post110910181810796021..comments2023-11-05T03:54:44.710-08:00Comments on Making it stick.: Factory, Engineering, Craft, or What?Patrick Loganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088461489050417591noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5135517.post-1123080232322867942005-08-03T07:43:00.000-07:002005-08-03T07:43:00.000-07:00Interesting discussion, I would say software devel...Interesting discussion, I would say software development is a mixture of disciplined, logical, and artistic skills. Here is a webpage with more discussion on the topic <A HREF="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~sahilt/research/SEMyths.html" REL="nofollow">Software engineering myths</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5135517.post-1109199432804020212005-02-23T14:57:00.000-08:002005-02-23T14:57:00.000-08:00Software is definitely not a factory.
Software ca...Software is definitely not a factory.<br /><br />Software can be set up to be like engineering... but that doesn't do justice to many people out there. I can build an application that meets 100% of the user requirements. But to be perfectly honest, it would probably look like crap. In engineering you have limited options, in many cases, as to how to do something. There are discrete problems that require discrete solutions.<br /><br />Software development, on the other hand, should be part engineering (we developers need the organization and structure that goes along with it) and part architect (the creativity to apply a different perspective on the solution). In my mind a good architect is a good craftsman. As should be a good software developer.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01777737601033459276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5135517.post-1109127892990737632005-02-22T19:04:00.000-08:002005-02-22T19:04:00.000-08:00Engineering is a matter of scope and scale. I don'...Engineering is a matter of scope and scale. I don't think the software that runs a satellite or one that powers weaponry would be written any less formally than the effort involved with engineering a bridge. Even at these lofty levels, there are elements of craft at the design level, one which comes from experience, and not one that comes from formal learning. <br /><br />Conventional software is a craft in the sense that work on a software is never finished. Hence, it takes continual craftmanship to keep the work maintainable and malleable enough to change in requirements.Chui Teyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04146083006658858824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5135517.post-1109110076492385432005-02-22T14:07:00.000-08:002005-02-22T14:07:00.000-08:00I'm not sure other disciplines have any more of le...I'm not sure other disciplines have any more of less formality around them other than what level a group decides. A TV design team could easily be organized in an informal "agile" fashion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5135517.post-1109104535641053042005-02-22T12:35:00.000-08:002005-02-22T12:35:00.000-08:00Interesting post. The more I think about this topi...Interesting post. The more I think about this topic the more I wonder what the difference between a craftsman and an engineer is? What is it that "engineers" do that we are envious of?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com