Is the Software Renaissance Ending?

An anonymous reader writes Writer and former software engineer Matt Gemmell adds his voice to the recent rumblings about writing code as a profession. Gemmell worries that the latest "software Renaissance," which was precipitated by the explosion of mobile devices, is drawing to a close. "Small shops are closing. Three-person companies are dropping back to sole proprietorships all over the place. Products are being acquired every week, usually just for their development teams, and then discarded. The implacable, crushing wheels of industry, slow to move because of their size, have at last arrived on the frontier. Our frontier, or at least yours now. I've relinquished my claim." He also pointed out the cumulative and intractable harm being done by software patents, walled-garden app stores, an increasingly crowded market, and race-to-the-bottom pricing. He says that while the available tools make it a fantastic time to develop software, actually being an independent developer may be less sustainable than ever.

Comments

Re:Isn't this a good thing?

[narcc]

Does that make me a software engineer?

No, that does not make you an engineer.

Of course, the term "software engineer" is so meaningless, that anyone not living in a place that has specific rules about the title engineer can call themselves a software engineer.

You call yourself a software engineer, after all. But why stop there? If you want to feed your ego (which is exactly why you use the title) why not go for something better? Pope of software! Software wizard!

Get over yourself. It's pathetic.

Your car engine is controlled by a PCM driven by software, weighing in with probably multiple megabytes of code and lookup tables, designed to increase your fuel efficiency beyond what you could get with a mechanical system alone, where flaws will very likely cause serious mechanical and safety problems.

Yes, some software can be dangerous. That still doesn't make you an engineer.

Did the IEEE ever manage that exam? Not that it matters, that's as close as you'll come to legitimately using that term. Even then, it's laughable to compare software development to actual engineering. You do a disservice to those professionals.