Slashdot Mirror
The Code Is The Design
danielread writes "In 1992 C++ Journal published an essay by Jack W. Reeves called 'What Is Software Design?' Many credit this essay as being the first published instance of assertions such as 'programming is not about building software; programming is about designing software' and 'it is cheaper and simpler to just build the design and test it than to do anything else'. developer.* Magazine has republished this groundbreaking essay, plus two previously unpublished essays, under the title Code as Design: Three Essays by Jack W. Reeves."
man did anyone actually read the damn article?
He's not saying you don't do traditional software design work, or document. He's saying that if you compare the work that a software engineer does, it is equivlant to the design phase of normal engineering, not the manufacturing phase. That the program you deliver, is in essence, a completed "design" not a manufactured "product".
When you roll out and install this "design" in the target environment, this is the step which equates to normal manufacturing.
It's actually pretty insightful.