The Software Comparison - Part 3

  • Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Software Comparison - Part 3

  • Before posting an article on the front page of well used website, it would be good to check that it is not full of gramatical and spelling errors. The subject sounds like some thought has gone into it, but the execution indicates otherwise!

  • Examining different areas of work to find comparisons and contrasts with IT is indeed worthwhile, with enough discussion material to cover many days of editorials. However, couldn't the ensuing discussions be combined into one thread so that points made on (for instance) day 1 don't get repeated (or forgotten about) in the discussion on day 3 or 4?

    Semper in excretia, suus solum profundum variat

  • Interesting point comparing us with doctors. The article didn't mention 'Doctor at a party' syndrome though... In the same way that doctors who admit their profession at a social event can be badgered by other guests for free medical advice, we can be badgered about their home pc problems.

    Best example from personal experience is 11pm in a bar holding a tray full of drinks when some guy went back to his car, retrieved his broken portable printer with the expectation that I would fix it their and then (in the bar, with no software or equipment to hand whatsoever). When they guy asked me where he could put his printer for me to fix, I almost told him to turn around and.... you can guess the rest. But I didn't, I told him to wait till working hours and bring it to me then. He wasn't happy, I wasn't happy. And yes I get this a lot.

    Other IT colleagues have told me that at a social event never to admit that I work in IT... Good advice I think!

  • ~paul hewitt (6/4/2008)


    Interesting point comparing us with doctors. The article didn't mention 'Doctor at a party' syndrome though... In the same way that doctors who admit their profession at a social event can be badgered by other guests for free medical advice, we can be badgered about their home pc problems.

    Best example from personal experience is 11pm in a bar holding a tray full of drinks when some guy went back to his car, retrieved his broken portable printer with the expectation that I would fix it their and then (in the bar, with no software or equipment to hand whatsoever). When they guy asked me where he could put his printer for me to fix, I almost told him to turn around and.... you can guess the rest. But I didn't, I told him to wait till working hours and bring it to me then. He wasn't happy, I wasn't happy. And yes I get this a lot.

    Other IT colleagues have told me that at a social event never to admit that I work in IT... Good advice I think!

    Yes, yes, yes, I agree! That is what happen. Makes me think of the story I heard about the doctor that phoned the plumber at 03:00 in the morning telling him his toilet is blocked and he need to come fix it now!!! The plumber said the doctor must be crazy, he will come in working hours but the doctor insisted, reminding him of the times the plumber called him in the wee hours because his child is sick. Reluctantly the plumber agreed to come. When he got there he had a look at the toilet, threw 2 asprins in it and said: "Call me in the morning if it is not better"!!!! When a person goes to the doctor and the receptionist says he had a emergency at the hospital we simply just make another booking but when someone has an IT problem then we have to jump immediately!

    :-PManie Verster
    Developer
    Johannesburg
    South Africa

    I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. - Holy Bible
    I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times. - Everett Mckinley Dirkson (Well, I am trying. - Manie Verster)

  • I bet when we (software developers, DBAs, etc.) lose millions of dollars worth of a clients data (with no back up) we get sued. Comparing someones health to a software program is really, really a stretch for me.

    If it was easy, everybody would be doing it!;)

  • After Part 3 on this topic I am motivated to reply. As an individual trained as an engineer (electrical), and after spending my 25 years or so of professional work more or less evenly divided between hardware/electrical engineering and software, I am oftentimes shocked at the lack of basic discipline, rigor, and attention to detail in the software world. It is starkly obvious to me that software development is best-viewed as an engineering discipline. The parallels are obvious and pervasive. The lack of this type of training in our IT curriculums is obvious, and growing. The emphasis is more and more on the latest wiz-bang tools and ideas at the expense of fundamentals, and the quality and cost of software suffers for it. Comparing to these other disparate occupations is entertaining, but not very useful.

  • I agree completely. I was a software developer and DBA for just over 20 years (wait... that makes me old). In any case, it always was one of my pet peeves to see the people who skated through a few classes and passed themselves off as seasoned developers only to find that they were hacks at best. No discipline, testing, etc. Now that I've moved to the business side, it is even more disheartening to see all of the bad developers out there. And I think that in today's world of outsourcing, we are seeing a growing "manufacturing" community of software developers and very few thinkers, designers, etc. Just pure assembly line programmers who have no clue what the real results of their coding could be. I could go on and on, but I don't have the time. In retrospect, I wish we could sue too. Maybe fewer bad programmers would be out there and the good ones would get the pay they deserve. On a positive note, most of the DBAs and Sys Admins I run into are usually really competent.

    Chet 😎

  • Trader Sam (6/4/2008)


    Comparing someones health to a software program is really, really a stretch for me.

    Yeah - I think that this comparison is a little over the top. I worked on quite a bit of software - even in the medical industry, and I have never been in the position to be responsible for jeopardizing someone's life.

    Mia

    Mia

    I have come to the conclusion that the top man has one principle responsibility: to provide an atmosphere in which creative mavericks can do useful work.
    -- David M. Ogilvy

  • The comparison seems like a stretch. Doctors save lives and take the lives of others in their hands everyday. It would be utterly pompus for a DBA to think his or her job is that important. At best, DBA's take the financial lives of companies in their hands. But we're talking money versus living, breathing organisms.

  • Rick Magnuson (6/4/2008)


    The comparison seems like a stretch. Doctors save lives and take the lives of others in their hands everyday. It would be utterly pompus for a DBA to think his or her job is that important. At best, DBA's take the financial lives of companies in their hands. But we're talking money versus living, breathing organisms.

    Agreed, but the medical profession's "error rate" tolerance level reflects the importance of getting things right, and I don't think it's pompous of a DBA to look to somewhere like that for guidance and inspiration.

    Semper in excretia, suus solum profundum variat

  • Personally,

    I think the only valid professional comparison is to Plumbers.

    Our jobs tend to be dealing with customers ...., but sometimes they get to work outside and use heavy equipment.

    Cheers
    http://twitter.com/widba
    http://widba.blogspot.com/

  • It probably depends on your perspective of jeopardizing someone's life. In most cases, software itself cannot kill someone. But even storing medical records incorrectly or incompletely could cause decisions to be made that would. While in the military, my code couldn't kill anyone. I worked in weather communications. However, sending the wrong data or even being slow about it could be risky to air traffic, troop and ship movements, etc. Even my more recent past in the financial world could jeopardize a life. Maybe not physical death. But imagine how aweful your life would be if a software incorrectly calculated your balances, payment postings even your paycheck. I personally have had to go a month or more without a paycheck because a software developer incorrectly coded the tax and bonus calculations. And when they audited the books, accounting decided I had been paid too much and held my check for a while until they got theirs back. So...you have to think about the big picture in software development. Yeah, maybe in your mind its just a slow report, or data needs to be recalculated. But what if it caused a big sale not to be made which led to income problems and eventually layoffs...maybe even yours.

    Chet 😎

  • mhaskins (6/4/2008)


    Trader Sam (6/4/2008)


    Comparing someones health to a software program is really, really a stretch for me.

    Yeah - I think that this comparison is a little over the top. I worked on quite a bit of software - even in the medical industry, and I have never been in the position to be responsible for jeopardizing someone's life.

    Mia

    I can't say I agree. I'm not saying that all developement is akin to someone's health, but there is a fair amount of rather critical data out there which when mishandled can cause a LOT of damage on whatever relevant level that might be.

    Physicians and healthcare worker rely heavily on data, and more and more on electronically transmitted data. Routing the wrong data to the wrong person can very easily cause serious injury to someone, so the software creating the data, routing the data, picking up the data is very much at the center of that patient's healthcare. Just because you're not working on the software automating a DaVinci robot doesn't mean you could have irreparable consequences on someone's health.

    Without even getting into healthcare itself - I've seen bad software (or malicious applications thereof) torpedo small companies, bleed them dry, or generally ruin their reputation. Tools are made to be used, so bad tools cause bad things to happen.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?

  • As a whole, most DBA's aren't working on mission critical applications that could potentially jeopardize one's life.

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