>So the idea that "Real Engineers" building bridges and railroads and skyscrapers get it right in plans and schedule is total bullshit.
A few examples do not an argument make. You don't think in the "law of long numbers" sense.
If you did, you'd find out that MOST engineering projects do end on time and budget, and even if they miss, they miss far more gracefully and with extremely better predictability of outcome that MOST software projects.
That you can find some counter-arguments doesn't mean much -- what TFA proposes holds in general, and holds much better than the alternative propositions (that engineering is as fucked or more fucked than software). Of course there will be several counter-examples, it doesn't have to be perfect to be near-perfect compared to software schedulling.
>And by the way, those "Engineering" disciplines have only been around for, what, hundreds, if not thousands of years. What they do for a living is mostly explored territory.
A few examples do not an argument make. You don't think in the "law of long numbers" sense.
If you did, you'd find out that MOST engineering projects do end on time and budget, and even if they miss, they miss far more gracefully and with extremely better predictability of outcome that MOST software projects.
That you can find some counter-arguments doesn't mean much -- what TFA proposes holds in general, and holds much better than the alternative propositions (that engineering is as fucked or more fucked than software). Of course there will be several counter-examples, it doesn't have to be perfect to be near-perfect compared to software schedulling.
>And by the way, those "Engineering" disciplines have only been around for, what, hundreds, if not thousands of years. What they do for a living is mostly explored territory.
That just reinforces the original posts thesis.