Wednesday, 15 November, 2000
Shoddy Software
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs,
then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.
— Gerald Weinberg.
There is way too much truth in that quote. The sad part is that most programmers I know seem to agree with the sentiment. Programmers know that they don't use solid engineering principles when building their software, and yet they wonder why many people don't take them seriously. Worse, the general public views all programmers in this light. I know of no other industry whose products are viewed with the distrust that users view software. The absolute worst part is that users are right to view software in this manner because almost all software is slapped together rather than engineered.
Sometimes I think I should have been a plumber.