IBM's service science

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I see it too

I attribute it to the relative immaturity of the IT industry. For all our posturing, we are young when compared to other disciplines such as engineering and the "hard" sciences. How long did it take, for example, for the field of architecture to establish standards? How long did engineers labor and fail before learning how to properly build bridges? Why is it that we expect the IT industry to have become perfect after only a relatively few years?

To get back to your point, many people who have been in the IT industry for 20 years or more seem to feel that they have learned everything there is to learn, and nothing new can come along. The way they have always done things is the ways things should be done. They don't see the IT industry as one still evolving. They speak of "well-established" software design principles as though such principles have been tested and perfected for centuries.

It's going to take a long time for "software engineering" to reach the same level of reputation and professionalism as other disciplines that have had centuries to establish themselves. Compared to them, we are still fumbling in the dark, using 2 sticks to light fires and dancing around the bonfire to ward off evil spirits.

In the future, I believe that "software engineering" will be a reality and software engineers will be regarded with the same respect as today's engineers. I believe there will be some form of certification that companies can turn to for an external judge of qualifications. I believe there will be an industry-accepted set of standards to which professional software engineers will adhere. But to expect all of that to happen in so short a time is to ignore history, which so many people today seem so good at -- I call it the "microwave syndrome" (I want it right now!).

Hope this wasn't too off-topic, but I tend to get on a roll sometimes. Usually with the end result of saying something stupid, which I'm sure someone will point out.

Carl Rapson

Posted by: rapson   Posted on: 04/29/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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