blog: Overlooked Essentials for Optimizing Code

[Bruno Medeiros]

On 02/11/2010 04:25, BCS wrote:
> Hello Bruno,
>
>> On 31/10/2010 05:35, BCS wrote:
>>
>>> Hello Bruno,
>>>
>>>> Which degree did 'Software engineers' take then?
>>>>
>>> You know, that's one thing that kinda irks me: Why is it called
>>> 'Software engineers' when I've never seen engineering taught in a CS
>>> course (not to be confused with real "computer engineering" courses
>>> that are a lot more like EE than CS).
>>>
>> What are you referring to when you say "called 'Software engineers'" ?
>> The people who write software, or the college degrees/programs? I
>> didn't quite get it.
>>
>
> I've never seen the details of a software engineering program so I can't
> say much on that, but my current job title is software engineer and I
> know *I'm* not doing engineering.
>

I don't think you understood my question. You said "Why is it called 
'Software engineers'", and I was asking what you meant by "it". Were you 
referring to the people, or to the degrees?

>>> The most direct example of this I know
>>> of is in "The Pragmatic Programmer": Item 18 is "estimate to avoid
>>> surprises" and then goes on to describe how to do that. Well, if
>>> programming were taught as an engineering discipline, that would be a
>>> pointless (if not insulting) comment because what it is advocating is
>>> so
>>> fundamental to engineering that it goes without saying.
>>
>> What do you mean "if programming were taught as an engineering
>> discipline" ?
>
> I'm saying that programming is *not* taught or practiced as an
> engineering discipline (Ok, maybe the DOD, DOE and NASA do).
> Furthermore, I'm presenting the fact that "item 18" needs stating as
> evidence supported to support my assertion and supporting that with the
> assertion that any practitioner of an engineering discipline wouldn't
> need to be told about "item 18".
>

Ehh? "needs stating as evidence supported to support my assertion and 
supporting that with the assertion that" ??

> To be totally clear, I'm not saying that software development should be
> done as an engineering process, but that the standard practices (and job
> title) of today shouldn't claim to be engineering.
>

What is engineering to you then?


-- 
Bruno Medeiros - Software Engineer