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posted by cmn32480 on Saturday November 07 2015, @11:02AM   Printer-friendly
from the but-it-makes-me-look-cool dept.

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.


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 07 2015, @07:04PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 07 2015, @07:04PM (#260059)

    What is your point. Personal gloating, an admission of ignorance, then accusing other people of ignorance. Are you sure you got your degree from an accredited institution? I'd expect any worthwhile school to teach analysis and applying critical thinking to rhetoric, yet your post has neither.

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