From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.2 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,bf72ca9e8a6b3cf X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: Marin Condic Subject: Re: Software Engineering in Florida Date: 1999/11/08 Message-ID: <38273FC9.AE7C8B82@pwfl.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 546069487 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: condicma@bogon.pwfl.com References: <1e0rgtb.6j187t1hibcsaN@[209.132.126.64]> <7vv26t$tju$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <804plo$dvs$1@nntp5.atl.mindspring.net> <807202$9if$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <8075f4$t1q$1@nntp3.atl.mindspring.net> X-Accept-Language: en Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Organization: Pratt & Whitney Mime-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: condicma@pwflcom Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 1999-11-08T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: Richard D Riehle wrote: > > In an earlier post I mentioned "industrial engineering." It was a > long time before physical engineers acknowledged the validity of this > branch of engineering. Many still refuse to take it seriously. Our > field, software, would probably learn something valuable from the > evolution of industrial engineering to its current place in the > realm of engineering. > Industrial Engineers still deal with the physical - the flow of raw materials through a production process. There is a good deal of real-live math involved in the study and design of manufacturing processes. However, I'll give you this: Industrial Engineering comes closer to Software Engineering than other disciplines in that it seems more concerned with a continuing process rather than a finished product. > Such predictability is rare in software practice. Most programmers > don't even recall the properties of Big O computations. The use of > metrics in design is practically non-existent. > That may be because it is seldom of any practical use. Big O is good for either theoretical analysis of algorithms or for practical optimization of relatively small chunks of code. Sure, we who deal with hard realtime systems can and do consider Big O where applicable, but in most cases Big O is useless to us. And once you get away from hard realtime, your biggest concern is not how fast the software will run, but if it will run correctly and/or be delivered on time to the customer. If it runs slow - get a faster computer! :-) Metrics in design are practically non-existent, but remember that metrics in and of themselves are not the point. How do they move the mission forward? What are the problems faced by the bulk of software practitioners? Is there a subset of practitioners whos problems could be aided by metrics? Not an easy question to answer. I once heard it said that Physics was Applied Mathematics and that Engineering was Applied Physics. If that is the case, then whatever it is we do - respected, noble and scientific as it might very well be - it could not be an Engineering discipline. MDC -- Marin David Condic If you hurry you can, for a short time only, still find me at: Real Time & Embedded Systems, Propulsion Systems Analysis United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney, Large Military Engines M/S 731-95, P.O.B. 109600, West Palm Beach, FL, 33410-9600 ***To reply, remove "bogon" from the domain name.*** Visit my web page at: http://www.mcondic.com/