Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!igor!rutabaga!jls From: jls@rutabaga.Rational.COM (Jim Showalter) Newsgroups: comp.object Subject: Re: Documenting OO Systems Message-ID: Date: 10 Apr 91 01:31:44 GMT References: > <1991Apr2.175756.12586@visix.com> <3201:Apr705:40:4591@kramden.acf.nyu.edu> Sender: news@Rational.COM Lines: 26 >I am proud not to be a software engineer. See, this is the really interesting thing to me: I cannot think of any other technical discipline in which people swagger around bragging about how they are not engineers. Can you imagine somebody swaggering around bragging that he is not a mechanical engineer? What sort of confidence would a person inspire in potential clients by broadcasting her not being a civil engineer? Would anybody even HIRE a person in any other discipline that not only had no formal background or credentialization, but was actually PROUD of it? Would you have a person with no formal training or proof of background to wire up your house? Be honest... would you like to have your gallbladder taken out by a "hacker" doctor (no training, no credentials, proud of it, CLAIMS he knows what he's doing...)? Give me a break. Sure, I acknowledge the existence once in a blue moon of a genius who needs no such training or background--but it stretches the bounds of credibility that so darned many of these geniuses just happen to be programmers. Or could it--shocking thought--be that many of the self-proclaimed non software engineer programmer/hackers aren't actually as good as they think they are? Heavens--could this explain over-budget over-schedule software shot though with bugs? Hmmmmm... -- * The opinions expressed herein are my own, except in the realm of software * * engineering, in which case I borrowed them from incredibly smart people. * * * * Rational: cutting-edge software engineering technology and services. *