There is a great deal of disconnect in software engineering reality and assumed expectations. In a recent discussion with a rather enthusiastic young mind this was brought home even more starkly.
The discussion centered around the following:
“Me and my friends have a great idea for a new game. It will involve a brand new take on game AI engine, a rather inspired physics engine, 3D rendering, angry-bird like response time, integration with Facebook etc.”. Their question was quite simple .. if we study an IT degree can we start building this game after our first year?
——
Of course, the reality is that attempting to do such a game after your first year U/G degree is likely to leave a deep scar of disappointment — not to mention cause a massive distraction to the learning process.
Movies like the Social Network show a small group building Facebook, and stories of how Google was built by two post-grad students in their dorm reinforce this expectation. In reality, both Facebook and Google started a simple systems that have grown only due to the effort of thousands of engineers putting in millions of hours of effort.
Rather than answer the “game” question directly, I dodged it by asking them if they thought it would be possible to build their own fighter aircraft after their 1st year engineering degree.
I have had many such conversations, sometimes even with quite experienced software engineers. Not to mention discussions with senior managers that wonder why it costs so much to build an iPhone app. when their son can built it over a weekend.
Software engineering is in many ways like most other engineering fields — they require thoughtful planning, careful engineering and a lot of discipline from quality people. Consider how many people will drive on a bridge designed and built by drop-out engineers who still work in their dorm rooms!
Hollywood with its rather skewed view of the typical IT professional does not help our cause. I strongly feel that we as a field and group need to find a way to communicate our work with the rest of the denizens of this planet. It will be nice if people had a more accurate understanding of our field. But at a practical level, we may attract a few more women into our field and most importantly (for me) end up writing a shorter project/budget proposals.
— rv
