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From: dc@sci.UUCP (D. C. Sessions)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: bridge building
Summary: What do YOU mean by engineering?
Message-ID: <986@mgt3.sci.UUCP>
Date: 22 May 91 17:48:39 GMT
References: <1264@telesoft.com> <1338@grapevine.EBay.Sun.COM>
Reply-To: dc@mgt3.sci.com (D. C. Sessions)
Organization: SCI Technology, Inc., Huntsville, Al.
Lines: 47

In article <1338@grapevine.EBay.Sun.COM> chrisp@regenmeister.EBay.Sun.COM (Chris Prael) writes:
# From article <1264@telesoft.com>, by rlk@telesoft.com (Bob Kitzberger @sation):
#  
# > All valid points, however, there are languages that _encourage_ good
# > software engineering practices, e.g. separation of specification and
# > implementation, strong type checking, inter-module dependency
# > verification, etc.  C isn't one of them.  Can this honestly be denied?   
# 
# It is very easy to deny for the simple reason that you are not talking
# about engineering practices, you are talking about software coding
# practices.  Coding is not an engineers issue, it is a technicians
# issue.

  [etc. -- dcs]

# Chris Prael

  We seem to have some major differences between our definitions of 
  "engineering".  From where I sit (which is frequently behind a 
  soldering iron) engineers are the folks who *document* the *process* 
  which results in a *product*.  I wish *I* could get away with 
  telling the manufacturing department that a calibration procedure
  "is not an engineers issue, it is a technicians issue".  (I won't, 
  though -- I need the work!)

  An engineer doesn't live in lofty isolation from the grungy details 
  of production.  Instead, most of an engineer's work concerns making 
  the most cost-effective use of the "materials" available.  If that 
  means steel instead of carbon composites, or 7400 TTL instead of the 
  latest GaAs logic, or C instead of Ada; well, so be it.  If s/he 
  *does* end up with steel instead of fiber, though, the design had 
  better be optimized for steel.

  Similarly, if the mandated toolset only supports global scoping a 
  competant software engineer plans in the manual symbol-space 
  management instead of whining "that's not my job."

----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Sorry, folks.  My sysadmin informed us today that the company is
  cutting our net access to save on phone bills.  I guess I won't be 
  getting any flames, will I?
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-- 
| The above opinions may not be original, but they are mine and mine alone. |
|            "While it may not be for you to complete the task,             |
|                 neither are you free to refrain from it."                 |
+-=-=-    (I wish this _was_ original!)        D. C. Sessions          -=-=-+