From: howland.reston.ans.net!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!milano!pho ton.mcc.com!breland@gatech.edu (Mark A. Breland)
Subject: Re: Software Engineering vs. Hacking (was Re:
Date: 9 Apr 93 15:02:23 GMT [thread overview]
Message-ID: <1993Apr9.150223.13365@mcc.com> (raw)
In article 93Apr5112034@spectre.mitre.org, eachus@spectre.mitre.org (Robert I.
Eachus) writes:
>
> I used to be a hacker, now I am a software engineer...
>ROBUSTNESS and quality are not the terms I would use to describe code
>written by hackers. The hacker concept of quality emphasizes
>cleverness AND elegance. Kludgeware is considered bad, but a (single)
>kludge used with flair is considered high art. Software engineers are
>more concerned with design. If the overall design is good, low level
>violations of abstraction are considered acceptable if they are needed
>to implement the design, and bad otherwise.
[much eloquent, good stuff deleted]
Thank you Robert for your extremely well put differentiation between a good
software engineer and a hacker. Unfortunately, I suspect you will soon hear
directly from Messr. Ketcham, when he attempts to proseletize you to his
teachings.
---
Mark A. Breland - Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC)
Ada Fault Tolerance | voice: (512) 338-3509
3500 West Balcones Center Drive | FAX: (512) 338-3900
Austin, Texas 78759-6509 USA | internet: breland@mcc.com
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