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From: petcher@TI-EG.CSNET (Malcolm_Petcher)
Newsgroups: net.lang.ada
Subject: Ada and professionalism
Message-ID: <8512130014.AA04894@ucbvax.berkeley.edu>
Date: Thu, 12-Dec-85 16:27:00 EST
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Posted: Thu Dec 12 16:27:00 1985
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Watching all this interchange on Ada professionalism, and software 
professionalism in general, I have finally felt compelled to jump into the 
fray.
For one thing, I think singling out Ada as an area of specialization and a 
target for professionalization is ridiculous.  Sure, Ada is a complex 
language, but no more complex than the real-time embedded systems it is 
designed to implement, and certainly not as specialized.  Ada simply embodies
many of the capabilities required for such implementations, freeing the
engineer from having to implement such capabilities from scratch.  It also 
embodies significant support for an orderly configuration management 
environment, another area where traditionally engineers on development 
projects have had to implement from scratch and get bit by their mistakes.  In 
the light of these facts, I have to conclude Ada actually opens the doors of 
real-time embedded applications to more engineers, and thus reduces the need 
for any sort of selectivity.
As far as the professionalism thing in general, all the comparison continues 
to be with doctors, lawyers, and occasionally CPA's.  The business environment 
of these professionals has little in common with the engineering environment, 
so I must discount any analogies drawn.  In engineering, at least within all 
facets of my exposure to it, there is a lot of emphasis on the continued use 
of the more experienced people to guide and review the work of those with less 
experience.  In general, the less experienced engineers welcome this 
relationship because it helps them to become more productive faster, and the 
end result is a very professional environment without the need for any sort of 
regulation or licensing.  The few who have an un-professional attitude and 
resent such guidance and review either change their attitude or wash out from 
the profession long before they have a chance to do any damage.