Matt Gerrans
Posts: 1153
Nickname: matt
Registered: Feb, 2002
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Re: Coding: A Writer's Perspective
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Posted: Dec 13, 2002 1:25 PM
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I agree with the premise that writing (good) code is more of an art or a craft than an engineering discipline.
I think for a long time, people have struggled to frame writing software as "engineering" in a quest for respectability. However, I don't think it is even necessary to claim it is engineering. Engineering (elecrical, mechanical, civil) is bound and shaped by physical laws, while software isn't so constrained (yes, there are the constraints of processing speed, memory, monitor resolution, etc., but there is still more room for creativity).
One of the things that has always impressed me as a contrast between engineering and software, is that with engineering, if you have the necessary intelligence combined with knowledge (in physics, mechanic, electromagnetism and so on) you can use reason alone to figure out how or why something (a bridge, a circuit, etc.) works based on natural laws. This is not at all true with software (with perhaps the exception of Python ;-). Often, when trying to compose software, you simply must know (or be able to find) how something works (popping up a window behind another, determining the processor speed, putting a checkbox on a button) and there is often no particular logic or underlying natural law to mandate how it works.
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