From Dr. Dobbs: Software Engineering ≠ Computer Science
The author puts forward the thesis:
He makes a good case. There are numerous formal methods that are being used to eat away at the fringes of the unprovable in software engineering through formal processes - but it usually requires defining the problem without a human element.
Indeed, look at some of the highly regarded practices for engineering today - with phrases such as "code smells", "team cohesion" - are we really expecting formal proofs?
At this point in the analysis, I'm shaking my head since I don't want to understand why a degree in Computer Science (like I have) might have been a waste... but looking at the diagram and reading through to the end, he makes the relationship between the two clear and makes the world (as I see it) whole again.
This is from the point of view of someone who gained a B.S. in C.S. from a school with a heavy emphasis on engineering disciplines, rather than pure science or mathematics. This was after a senior year transfer from a prior C.S. program at a school geared towards pure science and math. I understood as I entered my senior year that I simply wouldn't be employable except as a mathematician. I have been grateful for the opportunity to see the engineering side of world academically.
The author puts forward the thesis:
Software engineering will never be a rigorous discipline with proven
results, because it involves human activity.
He makes a good case. There are numerous formal methods that are being used to eat away at the fringes of the unprovable in software engineering through formal processes - but it usually requires defining the problem without a human element.
Indeed, look at some of the highly regarded practices for engineering today - with phrases such as "code smells", "team cohesion" - are we really expecting formal proofs?
At this point in the analysis, I'm shaking my head since I don't want to understand why a degree in Computer Science (like I have) might have been a waste... but looking at the diagram and reading through to the end, he makes the relationship between the two clear and makes the world (as I see it) whole again.
This is from the point of view of someone who gained a B.S. in C.S. from a school with a heavy emphasis on engineering disciplines, rather than pure science or mathematics. This was after a senior year transfer from a prior C.S. program at a school geared towards pure science and math. I understood as I entered my senior year that I simply wouldn't be employable except as a mathematician. I have been grateful for the opportunity to see the engineering side of world academically.
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