Great feedback! And yes, it's absolutely true that most people don't really understand construction (myself included). If they did, they'd probably stop using that analogy.
I do believe that the process of designing software can be very similar to being an architect. But in the dev-is-construction metaphor we usually fall back on the idea that the actual construction phase is static - as though all the planning's already been done, and now those guys with the big machines and the power tools just need to "make it happen".
Well, I know I'm quite late to the party, but I recently stumbled upon one of your pieces, and I think they are very insightful.
I can resemble many of your ideas - I see myself more a craftsman than an architect or a doctor.
Why? Because craftsmen plan and build things. Like a carpenter plans and builds a new table or a cupboard, he/she can also repair an old chair - using his craft, tools and sometimes replacement parts.
And everything you find another type of chair, table or cupboard - sometimes similar, sometimes not.
And even if the carpenter builds a new house after a plan an architect did - the wood is always unique, the grounds are unique and the building teams is unique - so you will never build two identical houses - each and every house is a unique piece of work, like every new software is.
Yep - totally agree! Maybe I fall upon the medicine analogy because I'm often called on to diagnose and treat issues that exist in current apps. But I don't disagree with you at all. When you're building a new app from scratch, many people use the analogy of building a house. But I don't like that analogy. Because most houses nowadays are built from pre-existing architectural plans - basically, the building part of it is like putting together a kit. But the reality is that it's never as much like a "kit" as the client believes. There's always a lot more craftsmanship that goes into it. So, yeah... I totally agree with what you're saying.
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Great feedback! And yes, it's absolutely true that most people don't really understand construction (myself included). If they did, they'd probably stop using that analogy.
I do believe that the process of designing software can be very similar to being an architect. But in the dev-is-construction metaphor we usually fall back on the idea that the actual construction phase is static - as though all the planning's already been done, and now those guys with the big machines and the power tools just need to "make it happen".
Well, I know I'm quite late to the party, but I recently stumbled upon one of your pieces, and I think they are very insightful.
I can resemble many of your ideas - I see myself more a craftsman than an architect or a doctor.
Why? Because craftsmen plan and build things. Like a carpenter plans and builds a new table or a cupboard, he/she can also repair an old chair - using his craft, tools and sometimes replacement parts.
And everything you find another type of chair, table or cupboard - sometimes similar, sometimes not.
And even if the carpenter builds a new house after a plan an architect did - the wood is always unique, the grounds are unique and the building teams is unique - so you will never build two identical houses - each and every house is a unique piece of work, like every new software is.
Yep - totally agree! Maybe I fall upon the medicine analogy because I'm often called on to diagnose and treat issues that exist in current apps. But I don't disagree with you at all. When you're building a new app from scratch, many people use the analogy of building a house. But I don't like that analogy. Because most houses nowadays are built from pre-existing architectural plans - basically, the building part of it is like putting together a kit. But the reality is that it's never as much like a "kit" as the client believes. There's always a lot more craftsmanship that goes into it. So, yeah... I totally agree with what you're saying.