Ask Slashdot: Transitioning From 'Hacker' To 'Engineer'?

antifoidulus writes "I'm about to get my masters in Computer Science and start out (again) in the 'real world.' I already have a job lined up, but there is one thing that is really nagging me. Since my academic work has focused almost solely on computer science and not software engineering per se, I'm really still a 'hacker,' meaning I take a problem, sketch together a rough solution using the appropriate CS algorithms, and then code something up (using a lot of prints to debug). I do some basic testing and then go with it. Obviously, something like that works quite well in the academic environment, but not in the 'real world.' Even at my previous job, which was sort of a jack-of-all-trades (sysadmin, security, support, and programming), the testing procedures were not particularly rigorous, and as a result I don't think I'm really mature as an 'engineer.' So my question to the community is: how do you make the transition from hacker (in the positive sense) to a real engineer. Obviously the 'Mythical Man Month' is on the reading list, but would you recommend anything else? How do you get out of the 'hacker' mindset?"

Comments

Re:Don't worry

[ozmanjusri]

Huh? What do the MCSEs do then?

You have to specify SOFTWARE engineer

[Swampash]

So you don't get confused with a real, actual engineer.

Re:What do you think "engineering" is?

[wvmarle]

I would add that the big difference between "hacking" and an engineering approach is a structured understanding of the problem.

I may assume that the CS masters study has taken care of that "structured understanding" part. In other words: hacker + CS degree = software engineer.

Re:Don't worry

[stjobe]

MCSE: Minsweeper Consultant and Solitaire Expert
At least that's what I was always told.