On Sun, Aug 4, 2013 at 3:07 PM, Roy Smith <r...@panix.com> wrote: > In article <d2e561f1-f5ba-4242-941d-6989abd1a...@googlegroups.com>, > wxjmfa...@gmail.com wrote: > >> I have always found, computer scientists are funny scientists. > > I have always found that sciences which contain the word "science" in > their name tend to not be very scientific. > > Biology, Chemistry, Physics, those are real sciences. Computer Science, > Social Science, Political Science, not so much.
Right. We use the scientific method only in our worst work, like poking at a black-box system to try to reverse compile it. Our work generally involves examining a problem and figuring out which set of tools will best solve it, which is more of an engineering thing. ("Build a bridge. Your chasm is X meters across, your bridge must support Y kg of vehicles traversing it, the terrain is unsuited to pylons, and you must not exceed Z meters of height above the road surface.") And programmers, like engineers, have to deal with the possibility (or certainty) of idiots using their products. This is not a pure science by any means. ChrisA -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list