Conversation

Poll: Do you think software engineering is mostly like or unlike older engineering fields in terms of good thinking, work, and management habits and practices? Relative to pair distances among older fields like (ME, EE)
  • Extremely unlike
    29.5%
  • Somewhat unlike
    45.4%
  • As close as any pair
    9.2%
  • Not a techie/show results
    15.9%
295 votesFinal results
Replying to
Do I get this right: this poll is for SE, who do *not* have previous experience of EE? As in, this poll.. estimates average mental model of previous engineeering fields from the pov of latest engineering field engineers?
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Re-work/bug fixing are *relatively* easier in software. One can iterate/improve limitlessly. Atleast 20+ years back hardware was a constraint for software. Not anymore. In other branches of Engineering, there are more constraints/risks involved.
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I have done both Mechanical Engineering and Software Engineering at their highest levels (nuclear submarines, one of the big tech companies). They are A LOT more alike than the software engineers realize. The “old” engineering have more uncertainty than commonly understood.
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Super different. The ability to rapidly iterate changes everything about best practices for design. I worked in a civil firm doing autocad for a summer before programming, and concerns around safety and ability to only build the thing once make for a very different environment.
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I chose "somewhat unlike" (am SE), here's my context: In my work I: - have rituals and habits for productivity and comfort - work w/ S1 - motoric/memetic memory for hotkeys, terms, patterns, file paths, conventions - work w/ S2 - plan, analyze, destructure - discuss a lot 1/2
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The thinking, work, and management habits and practices of the betters in the field of SW and the betters in older engineering fields are a lot more similar than not.