Recently, Jeff Atwood discussed “why software projects can’t be treated like any other construction or engineering project“. He suggested that:
“But software projects truly aren’t like other engineering projects. I don’t say this out of a sense of entitlement, or out of some misguided attempt to obtain special treatment for software developers. I say it because the only kind of software we ever build is unproven, experimental software.”
If you’ve ever read the book noted above (by Robert M. Pirsig) – or perhaps more accurately – if you have read and finished ZATAOMM, then you will know that it is more about a philosophy of values than it is about motorcycle maintenance.