![Daniel Markham](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="48" height="48"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
I am begging software people to talk to a single traditional engineer
![I think that the difference between e.g., mechanical engineering and software engineering are perceived the way they are BECAUSE of the immaturity of software. Mechanical engineering was able to move past a certain point because rather than having to hammer out their own, engineers discovered the One True Nail, or the One True Lockwasher, or what have you. The same is not true of software, at least not yet.](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="810" height="137"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
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Replying to @hillelogram
![Daniel Markham](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="73" height="73"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
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(If you don't know any traditional engineers, you can instead read my project on this, where I interviewed 17 people who moved from trad to software)
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> one true fastener
how many people stripped a Phillips head screw in the past five minutes? I bet it's a lot
...hm, if I were a sociopath and still a manager that'd make a great bad interview question
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That’s how you filter for hiring Canadians and others with good taste, just see if they immediately go on a rant about Robertson
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I, um, what? The difference is that mechanical engineers are asked to build one product that does one thing really well.
And software engineers are asked to make something that does everything, can be changed at a moments notice, and is changed several times in its development.
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> I, um, what? The difference is that mechanical engineers are asked to build one product that does one thing really well.
You'd be surprised! mechanical engineering is at times just as messy as software engineering is
(chem engineering is a bit closer to software, too)
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The "Church of the One True Nail" has a nice ring to it.
Fun fact: my dad worked in the aviation industry, which is quite serious as far as engineering goes. He recounts that making an aircraft airworthy is certainly not a one-size-fits-all process. Things got messy sometimes.
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True, but you are not reinventing the screw and washer for every project again. Eventualy improving somerhing that exist allready.
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But there are so many mechanical things that are poorly design and constructed.
I’ll admit there are probably many more software solutions that are worse.
I’ve worked in Naval aviation and there’s just bad stuff there as well.
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I worked in a firm that does avionics and have had the displeasure of doing software for a unit that was flight safety critical and thus had to pray to the FAA gods. Good times.
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![A list of dozens of types of nails](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="970" height="2048"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
well, to be fair, that’s still just a list of ~50 nails. one could ostensibly learn all of them and be good for the next 500 years.
try that with any set of computing hardware device specifications…
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SPECTACULAR bad take, wooof. I beg the dude just to set foot in a hardware store, Jesus, don't they let their GPT3 bots out sometimes?
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tbf this was from 2005
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For me it is about accountability...
At the start of the Industrial Revolution things blew up and people died. At the end we had an Engineering Profession that stood by what they built and were prosecuted if there was a failure in their designs.
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There is no similar accountability in the software industry.
I've not seen any sw 'engineer' do prison time for a failure in their product... the closest we get is when some software driven piece of *hardware* fails... VW diesel, Autonomous cars, radiotherapy machines.
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Oh man, having fasteners (or other "stock" hardware) be a solved problem would have made my time as a mechanical engineer so much easier. Nothing like sifting through a McMaster/Grainger/Fastenal catalog trying to see if the part you want even exists.
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Calling grainger about part 0115659 (unit price: $0.68) to see if they have an item with identical specs, but 1/16" longer and getting a quote for $1700 lol
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Especially the people who replied to this tweet, but shouldn't have (which is most of them.)
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I think most of the replies have been good so far
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The way my dad described mechanical engineering made it feel fairly clerical. Lots of looking up specs and going through processes. Math was relatively uncommon.
I'm not sure about the lesson, but it seemed kind of boring (at least he was bored and left the profession)
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Luckily everything is still exciting and new in the world of computer specs…
![Microsoft Logo](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="240" height="240"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
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I have two siblings with a PE. I'm in software. At family gatherings, they pat me on the head and try to keep me from running into the street. 
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Ohhfffs. I have a bonafide 30-60 minute rant on lock washers and other ways of doing somewhat maybe secure bolted connections.
That's a bad take and that person should not be allowed to toke.
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Hilarious, i'll tell my team that we just have to find that One True Solution
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ah yes, found the one screw, made ISO, EN, DIN put into 500 pages each, and then put a price tag on it, so everyone can use it
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btw, if you don't know any, AMA.
Studied M Eng in Aerospace, worked as M Eng in food and hygiene.
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![](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="24"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
Hillel
@hillelogram
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(If you don't know any traditional engineers, you can instead read my project on this, where I interviewed 17 people who moved from trad to software)
hillelwayne.com/post/are-we-re
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This is why it's so easy to find the right nail and lockwasher at Home Depot and why it never takes a return trip to the store.
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They thing about every field other than my own is that thinks make sense and are thus predictable and simple. 
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Hmm, true? Who builds their own OS? Compiler? Database? Date handling library?
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>>throws out the Machinists Handbook
So, um… where can I find this One True Nail?
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Or even just another software person over the age of like 50. That would be a start.
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First task as hardware engineer. Make the best amplifier you can, but keep the price to £200. It's not as easy as it sounds. You always want to use the best bits, but you can't. Translate that to software.
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This is seriously dumber than the English woman who said that plumbers and electricians don't need to drive trucks around with all their materials to jobs sites (because climate change). They should only take what they need....
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