Since I started a programming degree I've stopped writing programmes, mostly. Why? Because I can see the damage that I can do. This damage is done because I don't understand the entire domain. None of us understand an entire domain. It takes time and talk to even get close.
Let us take as an example the heating system in my school. The thing is flaky, it shuts off when we want heat, it starts-up when we are boiling our brains out. We've spent millions on this thing, why is this so rubbish?
It's rubbish because nobody grokks it, some history...
Twenty or so years ago it was decided that mere jannies couldn't be allowed to control heating; it was to done centrally. Twenty years ago such a thing had to done over a phone modem.
People forgot how a modem worked.
Five years ago we upgraded our phones Nobody noticed. We requesting changes, "modem is down, no budget".
Heating borked. Modem didn't know to dial 9 for an outside line
[Slight aside this was fixed last year, recently, due to planned channges, we have to dial 99 for an outside line...I wonder if it is broken again?]
Then along came the upgraders. Who put in a whole new heating system on the top floor. Without realizing that every tempreture sensor in the entire school was there. Why would the?, It wasn't documented in the big books of crap that they gave me, and ask you to sign for.
This is clearly my fault, I have a problem spelling.
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