I have good news: I’ve signed the contract for my fourth book. It will be about Software Engineering in C++, and I’m very excited about this project.
If you’ve read my blog and listened to my talks in the past few years, you know that I’ve become very interesting in intersections between software development and other domains. One of the big questions, yet unanswered, is the following:
How does software development compare with engineering disciplines?
Writing the new book gives me a chance to explore this question a bit longer. But to do so, I need your help.
The best way to investigate this question is to discuss with engineers from other disciplines. Specifically, I’d like to discuss with at least one electrical engineer, industrial engineer, mechanical engineer, and civil engineer. An aerospace engineer would be great as well.
The discussions will go around the following topics:
- What are the common practices in your job? In other words, what are the things you couldn’t do your job without?
- What is the process for developing a new item (eg. a bridge, a plane wing, an industrial process etc)?
- How is a team constructed in your domain?
- How do you ensure that the thing you’re building is working properly?
- How do you treat safety and security of the end product?
Of course, I would be very happy to answer the same questions from the perspective of a software developer.
So here’s my request: if you know anyone who fits into these categories and is curios about comparing software development with their engineering disciplines, please point them to this blog post.
If you’re interested in having a discussion, post a comment, tweet me at @alexboly or send me an email at alexboly[at]gmail[dot]com.
Thanks, and have fun!
