On 01/22/2012 01:20 PM, Richard Pieri wrote: > On Jan 22, 2012, at 12:06 PM, Robert Krawitz wrote: >> This analogy is wrong. It isn't construction workers, but people who >> participate in the design of a bridge. They don't all need to be PEs; a >> PE ultimately may have to sign off on their work (at least for public >> infrastructure), but that's it. > No, this is the heart of the matter. Mechanics are not Mechanical Engineers. > Electricians are not Electrical Engineers. Bricklayers are not Civil > Engineers. They are all skilled tradesmen but they are not Engineers and > they typically are not part of the design process. That isn't their > expertise. > > We don't expect mechanics to know how to design a supertanker. We don't > expect electricians to know how to design a power grid. We don't expect > bricklayers to know how to design a skyscraper. But programmers -- people > who's expertise is writing code -- are expected to design programs. Or, to > turn that around, people who's expertise is designing programs are expected > to spend more time writing code than getting the design right. I think that > this is a major factor in why so many applications, especially embedded > applications, are such wrecks. > The issue is the licensing of people who are performing a task to the consumers. mechanical, electrical, or civil engineers only need to be licensed if they provide the service to the public. An engineering company may hire many engineers, but many of those do not need to be licensed. Computer companies hire mechanical and electrical engineers but few are licensed. How many EEs does NSTAR or National Grid have on their payroll, and of those what percentage are licensed.
-- Jerry Feldman <[email protected]> Boston Linux and Unix PGP key id:3BC1EB90 PGP Key fingerprint: 49E2 C52A FC5A A31F 8D66 C0AF 7CEA 30FC 3BC1 EB90
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