[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Re: Engineering versus Science, Anecdote versus Evidence ... [
On Thu, 2011-12-29 at 19:18 +0000, Costello, Roger L. wrote: > > I'd suggest software design is closer to engineering than science > > But isn't the goal of every engineer to move steadily away from > engineering-as-an-art to engineering-as-a science? Science is about understanding the world around us. Engineering is about building things. Engineering is generally based on knowledge and understanding that have been gained through scientific studies. There is also creativity in the actual solutions that are used. > > Stated differently, shouldn't we endeavor to approach engineering > problems as scientists? No. We should approach engineering problems as engineers. We should also keep in mind that a large part of computing is firmly grounded in the "soft sciences" -- usability, for example, is very context sensitive, but, less obviously, the metrics for "success" often tend to move about as people start to use a system. That can be true with, say, civil engineering, of course, and indeed the interface between artefact and user has traditionally been a week point in most forms of engineering. After all, it's the realm of art and design, realms that engineers often undervalue... Liam -- Liam Quin - XML Activity Lead, W3C, http://www.w3.org/People/Quin/ Pictures from old books: http://fromoldbooks.org/ Ankh: irc.sorcery.net irc.gnome.org www.advogato.org
[Date Prev] | [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Date Next] -- [Date Index] | [Thread Index] |
PURCHASE STYLUS STUDIO ONLINE TODAY!Purchasing Stylus Studio from our online shop is Easy, Secure and Value Priced! Download The World's Best XML IDE!Accelerate XML development with our award-winning XML IDE - Download a free trial today! Subscribe in XML format
|