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From: Dean Runzel <drunzel@mail.mco.bellsouth.net>
Subject: Re: Software Engineering is not a hoax...
Date: 1997/05/29
Message-ID: <338D1244.6324@mail.mco.bellsouth.net>#1/1
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Reply-To: drunzel@mail.mco.bellsouth.net
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.c,comp.lang.ada
Date: 1997-05-29T00:00:00+00:00
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>


I'm picking up this thread very late but I'd like to join in with a
few simple ideas:

1) Engineering is basically the application of techniques to solve
   problems. One of my EE instructors (long, long ago) said we would
   be lucky to ever actually use something we learned in college
   in a real world situation. Instead, he insisted that the school's
   primary role was to teach problem solving techniques i.e. breaking
   a problem down, combining techniques, etc.
2) Given the above, Electrical Engineering becomes the practice of 
   applying techniques to solve problems involving electricity, 
   Automotive Engineering => problems in the automotive field, etc.
3) For example, several years ago, no one studied air bags in an 
   Automotive Engineering class because they simply didn't exist. Some
   engineers were tasked with solving a safety problem and invented the
   air bag as the solution.
4) So basically my definition of "engineering" includes things like 
   problem statement, requirements, research, brainstorming, designing
   a solution, implementation, testing and cycling back through the 
   process. 
5) Reuse enters this process at the requirements stage (yes, even 
   requirements can be reused) and continues through at least the
   testing phase.
6) Now, note that my definition makes no reference to hardware, physics,
   or any particular science. Engineering is a *process*.
7) As such, software engineering is a valid term if and only if a 
   process is followed to solve a problem related to software.

That's the simplest explanation I can come up with. Note that I've 
worked in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electro-
Optical Engineering, and now Software Engineering in my career. 

The opinions expressed are my own and belong to no one else.

Dean Runzel