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The Atlantic is running an article on the friction between the computing world and Professional Engineer societies. This discussion has been going on for a long time, and is meaningful to me personally - I quit a 10-year career as server administrator with 'engineer' in my job title when I graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree, and have since earned my Professional Engineer license. In a world where most software comes with a disclaimer of liability due to defects, where would an ethical, civic-minded programmer even practice Professional Engineering? Angry Birds probably doesn't have any responsibility to the public safety, so there's little need there; on the other hand, Google's self-driving car program is a good candidate.
I'd love to welcome the programming profession into the circle of licensed Engineers, provided that the industry manages to agree on standards of quality and accountability. I don't see the methods (such as Agile) used by programmers as a significant obstacle, either; the programming motto of "move fast and break things" (which the article wrongly decries) is echoed in the motto "fail early, fail often" that is held by many Mech Eng R&D shops. I just fear that the halting problem will be solved before any such standards become widely accepted and implemented in the industry.
(Score: 4, Funny) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday November 07 2015, @11:35AM
Don't look at me, I call myself a code monkey in that context.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 07 2015, @12:26PM
Don't you think it's time you promoted yourself to Simian Engineer?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by c0lo on Saturday November 07 2015, @12:45PM
Maybe some would need to get over it and revert to an older sense [etymonline.com] of engineer/engineering?
You know? Just like with the hacker word: it no longer means "unorthodox but clever solution to a problem", it reverted to something closer to "cut with rough or heavy blows"... get over it, language devolves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 07 2015, @02:11PM
The observation that language evolves is accurate, but it does not follow from that that we must accept every change to the language without a fight. For instance, I refuse to use the word "hacker" in confusing and ultimately harmful ways, and I will tell others who do so my thoughts on the matter. If language can evolve, and it can, then it can also evolve in positive ways. It's possible for people to stop using a word in certain contexts, so if we find companies trying to spread propaganda (for instance, using "piracy" to refer to copyright infringement), we can fight back by not using it that way and telling others to do the same.
This is just a response to the final part of your comment, and not about the debate about the word "engineer".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 07 2015, @03:15PM
(for instance, using "piracy" to refer to copyright infringement), we can fight back by not using it that way
I don't think there's a lot of people left who get upset when they're called pirates. [youtube.com]
Yar har, fiddle dee dee, being a pirate is all right to be...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 07 2015, @04:20PM
Then they are being foolish. [gnu.org] I've even seen some refer to it as "theft". What they don't realize is that they are helping spread propaganda.
It's also not about being upset, but about rejecting uses of words that cause confusion and spread emotional propaganda.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by mcgrew on Saturday November 07 2015, @07:11PM
I programmed for over thirty years and never considered myself an engineer. The difference between programmer and engineer is illustrated by something I wrote back in 2002:
“Hey, you got a new car! Pretty nice! I see you're sticking with the same manufacturer.”
“Well, I liked the old one. I've always been happy with Microcar's autos.”
“Your old one was only two years old, if you liked it why did you buy a new one?”
“The manufacturer said I should upgrade. Besides, this new model has a cassette instead of an eight track. Wish it would play the other four tracks though...”
“Why didn't you just buy a new radio?”
“The manufacturer welds them in, and wires them so the car won't start if you take it out. Besides, the radio wasn't the only reason to upgrade.”
“What else?”
“Ralph Nader says the old one crashes too often, but you know that nut. I've only had that old one one crash six times, and I was never in the hospital too long. But Microcar says this model is much more stable and hardly ever crashes. It's supposed to be more secure, too.”
“Why did it keep crashing?”
“Dunno, something about the spark plugs interacting with the steering system, I'm no mechanic. My mechanic tried to explain it to me but these mechanical things are just too complicated. He says if I'd defrag my pistons more often it wouldn't crash, you get much more stability with a fresh tuneup. But I just said ‘the hell with it’ and traded it in.
“In fact, I'm taking it in to the shop right now.”
“But it's a band new car, it needs a tuneup?”
“No, there's a ‘feature’ that keeps the door lock from working if you drive it more than six miles. I'm going to get the patch kit.”
“I thought you weren't mechanical?”
“Well, they say this one's an easy fix and I can't afford another repair bill.”
“Won't they fix it under warrantee?”
“What warrantee? This is a car! The EULA says they bear no responsibility for anything. I just hope I don't get in trouble with the law applying this patch.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah, they weld the hood shut, and under the DMCA, opening the hood of your car is a felony if it's welded shut. You can go to prison if you get caught, even if they are tacky little welds that come apart by themselves.”
“Boy, cars sure are weird. I'm glad my computer isn't like that, I'd never get any work done!”
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org