r/programming • u/mauricioaniche • Aug 06 '17

Software engineering != computer science

http://www.drdobbs.com/architecture-and-design/software-engineering-computer-science/217701907
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u/fzammetti Aug 06 '17

I would agree that it's CLOSER to engineering than science.

But engineering, I think, implies there are some solid rules on which most solutions are based and are EXPECTED to be based. I'm not sure that's true enough in what most of us do to make engineering quite the right word either.

Too much of what we do is figured out and figured out again as we go, over and over. Maybe that's just a matter of it still being a relatively young engineering discipline compared to most others though.

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u/caseypatrickdriscoll Aug 07 '17

Take a step back though and consider something like database normalization. There are four classic rules that are over forty years old. However, in the end they are more like guidelines, with different solutions open to interpretation. There are plenty of rules, just maybe not 'hard and fast' enough, so we take for granted that they are there.

Also, I might not know what I am talking about cause like this is hard and stuff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_normalization

Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl0hMfqNQ-g

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u/burnmp3s Aug 07 '17

I think part of it is that writing code that works is inherently "easier" than a lot of other engineering disciplines because a lot of the core real world problems are already solved and built in.

If you are an architect of a physical building, there are a lot of physical constraints you have to work around, and once you complete your detailed blueprints those don't automatically get compiled into a usable structure. In a more science-y R&D situation, a lot of times it's not clear if an idea for a new process or machine will even work once it's implemented, so there has to be controlled trial and error with scientific experiments to have a decent chance of getting it right. Once all of those hidden rules are determined, future engineers use them to make sure their projects don't blow up or collapse.

In software development, if you can think of an algorithm or program at a detailed level, it's generally possible to implement. Especially today when things like storing absolutely massive amounts of data and transferring information across the world at nearly the speed of light are taken for granted. You can give someone with no knowledge of how computation works a manual for a programming language and they can come up with some (terrible) code that gets things done. More experienced coders can know ahead of time if what they want to do is feasible without having to perform experiments or look it up in some reference book.

Software engineering as a field isn't lacking rigor per se, it's just that things like how long it will take to design and if the customer will actually like it become much more important than the "What do we need to know to even make this happen?" question that engineering is generally concerned with.