Why I Am a Software Engineer

Why Am I a Software Engineer
By Craig Saunders

Why is Engineering in
the Name?
© Kindred Group plc 2017 2

How Does This Relate to Software?

What is Engineering?
“
The creative application of scientific principles to design or
develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing
processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to
construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design;
or to forecast their behaviour under specific operating conditions;
all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and
safety to life and property.
- American Engineers' Council for Professional Development
Most notably, engineering is a discipline made up
from a set of principles.

What does it mean to be disciplined?
Code of behaviour
“Laws control the lesser man… Right conduct controls the greater one.”
- Mark Twain
Sense of quality
“Quality is not an act, it is a habit.”
- Aristotle
Self-mastery
“Once can have no smaller greater mastery than mastery of oneself.”
- Leonardo da Vinci
Practise
“In the first place , God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.”
- Mark Twain
Preparation
“Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.”
- Confucius

So What’s the
Correlation With
Engineering

So Why Use the Term Engineering?

History of Software Engineering?
1960s
Software Crisis
Projects running over-budget
Projects running over-time
Software was very inefficient
Software was of low quality
Software often did not meet the requirements
Projects were unmanageable and code difficult to
maintain
Software was never delivered

1960s
Software Crisis
1968
The term Software Engineering was born
at the NATO Science Committee
conference
Edsger W. Dijkstra
Fredrick Brooks
Autor: David.Monniaux – Vlastní dílo, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20028813
By Hamilton Richards - manuscripts of Edsger W. Dijkstra, University Texas at Austin, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4204157

1960s
Software Crisis
1968
The term Software Engineering was born
at the NATO Science Committee
conference
1970
~1,000,000 programmers existed and the
first wave of graduate programmers.
Winston Royce wrote his paper (waterfall)
1977
Jean-Raymond Abrial with help of
Bertrand Meyer and Steve Schuman
introduced the Z formal method
1982
Although previously mentioned, term
CASE tool was coined by Nastec
Corporation

1984
Enter the playing field came Total Quality
Management (TQM)
Cease dependence on mass inspection to achieve
quality. Improve the process and build quality into
the product in the first place.
-W. Edwards Deming

1984
Enter the playing field came Total Quality
Management (TQM)
1986
Fredrick Brooks published his No Silver
Bullet article
1989
Watts Humphrey published his book
called Managing the Software Process
and the start of CMM.
1990
Start of the internet explosion
1996
Kent Beck because the project lead of C3
at Chrysler

1999
The birth of XP and the release of the
famous book.
Another attempt to add some discipline
Handle the speed to market concerns
Increase quality as the profession was in crisis again
Deliver better value to customers
Developing to win

1999
famous book.
2001
Agile Manifesto
By Tim-bezhashvyly - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38703621
By Webysther Nunes - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39594469
By Carrigg Photography for the Wikimedia Foundation - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17697618
By Dennis Hamilton - https://www.flickr.com/photos/orcmid/1850093537/, CC BY 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24586116
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan

1999
famous book
2001
Agile Manifesto
2008
Agile Toronto conference, Andrew Shafer
and Patrick Debois introduced the term
2013
The marriage between Lean
Manufacturing and development. The
launch of the famed book the Phoenix
Project
2019
Evans Data Corp predict 26.4 developers,
which would be an increase of 45%. 2017
the number is 18.2.

Why Did This Fail?

Software Age Crisis
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
<20
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-49
50-59
>60
Age
Age
The average developer is 29.6 years old.
The median is 27.
Taken from the 2016 stack overflow developer survey - https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2016
In comparison, the average age of a
Mechanical, Civil, or Chemical Engineers
is 42 (according to Data USA).

How Can the Principles Be Passed On
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Self-taught
On the Job Training
B.S. in Computer Science (or Related Field)
Online Course
Masters Degree in Computer Science (or…
Some College Coursework in Computer…
B.A in Computer Science (Related Field)
Industry Certification Program
Full-time Intensive Program (e.g Bootcamp)
Part-time Program (e.g. Night School)
Other
PhD in Computer Science (or Related Field)
Mentorship Program
Number of Respondants
Number of Respondants
Taken from the 2016 stack overflow developer survey - https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2016
69% of all developers tell us they are at
least partly self-taught. (13% of
respondents across the globe tell us
they are only self-taught.) 43% of
developers have either a BA or BS in
computer science or a related field. 2%
of developers have a PhD.

Software Age Crisis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecIWPzGEbFc
http://www.businessinsider.com/software-
developers-fear-age-30-2014-3?r=US&IR=T&IR=T
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/where-all-old-
programmers-gene-kochanowsky
https://www.infoq.com/news/2014/01/IDC-
software-developers
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/no-place-
for-the-old-is-software-development-a-young-
persons-game/

Advantage of Older Engineers
Wide Knowledge
“A small team of A+ employees can easily out perform larger teams of B and C employees”
- Steve Jobs
Judgement
“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price forgotten”
- Benjamin Franklin
Experience
“We learn from failure, not from success”
- Bram Stoker, Dracula
Communication
“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something .”
- Plato
Deep Knowledge
“True knowledge comes with deep understanding of a topic and its inner workings.”
- Albert Einstein

Why Does This Matter

Crisis of 60s & 70s – Anything Changed?
Now
Then
Projects running over-budget
Projects running over-time
Software was very inefficient
Software was of low quality
Software often did not meet the requirements
Projects were unmanageable and code difficult to maintain
Software was never delivered

James Laing - Who?
James Laing is the engineer responsible
for designing the emissions cheat device
for Volkswagen.
He was sentenced to 40 months in jail
and a fine of $200,000 – 10x the
recommended fine by the prosecutors.

Respect and Pride
Wouldn't it be great to feel proud of the
work you are doing and feel the you are
making a difference to your customers.

What Needs to Happen?

Nirvana?

Uncle Bob’s Oath
I will not produce harmful code.
The code that I produce will always be my best work. I will not knowingly allow code
that is defective either in behaviour or structure to accumulate.
I will produce, with each release, a quick, sure, and repeatable proof that every
element of the code works as it should.
I will make frequent, small, releases so that I do not impede the progress of others.
I will fearlessly and relentlessly improve my creations at every opportunity. I will
never degrade them.
I will do all that I can to keep the productivity of myself, and others, as high as
possible. I will do nothing that decreases that productivity.
I will produce estimates that are honest both in magnitude and precision. I will not
make promises without certainty.
I will continuously ensure that others can cover for me, and that I can cover for
them.
I will never stop learning and improving my craft.

In Summary

Takeways
The industry is failing to deliver on the Engineering promise
The principles of Software Engineering should be more important
It’s our industry, let’s make it good and not bad
We’ve had many stabs at this, but maybe we’re finally getting there
There’s some positive synergy and lessons from manufacturing
Experienced Engineers need to speak up and mentor the young
Uncle Bob’s oath is a good start to remedy this

Why I Am a Software Engineer

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