David C. Rankin said the following on 05/14/2012 03:20 PM:
Engineering, in its purest form is more than the knowledge or understanding of physical principles, it is the value of the physical world applied to the betterment of mankind. There is a vast distinction between 'knowledge' and 'value' in cognitive taxonomy that it illustrative of the difference between software and mechanical engineering.
While both can be responsible for the smoking hole, the liability does not rest on the shoulders of the software engineer.
My first job out of university was with a military aviation firm. (Hence the "big smoking hole" quote.) In one of our orientation sessions the first month this issue of liability and responsibility was addressed and the profession of engineering brought into focus. Yes, someone had to sign off on the design and implementation. Since Aviation amounts to software control of the hardware, software is an intrinsic part of engineering. A couple of the new hires insisted they were programmers and not engineers. Perhaps they associated 'engineers' with the grime covered men driving steam engines or something, but they they were insistent that software was not an engineering profession. They were terminated on the spot. It was made very clear to us that liability rested on our shoulders whether we tightened nots and bolt, soldered joints or wrote code. During my time there I was an interplay backward and forward of algorithms being implemented in software and hardware as technology, space, power consumption and other constraints changed. But if you are not willing to take responsibility for your actions, why should you claim to have freedom of choice, free will? -- The scars of others should teach us caution. -- Saint Jerome, Letter -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org