Re: [service-orientated-architecture] Re: Platforms for SOA

[Keith Harrison-Broninski]

Dan Creswell writes: How have cars evolved over time? How much of that original model T is in todays cars? Do car engineers spend all their time re-using what they had before or do they sometimes throw out and re-build from scratch? Then there's the length of time it takes to design a new car and deliver it to market or build a new bridge. Are those timescales comparable to computing projects and if they are, are they actually appropriate/ realistic? How about the fact that once I deliver a car or bridge, I don't make many changes to it. Does the same happen with software releases? Dan's post comes close to the nub of the problem.  We're not designing cars: mass production items with a limited, fixed set of customizations available.  We're designing bridges: one-offs to which, yes, you do very often make unforeseeable changes after completion of the initial construction project.  Many bridges are reinforced, altered, or extended in all sorts of ways as the demand on them changes, or use reveals weaknesses. I would say that the comparison between software and bridges is quite close - not only in timescale, as you ask, but in the general nature of the projects - even the expense. Stepping back from this particular comparison; IT is a young, dynamic profession which has made great changes to the world - and hence many people in it have developed an arrogant way of looking at the world.  I'm not accusing anyone on this list, just making a general observation.  This very prevalent attitude leads to the assumption that we have little or nothing to learn from other professions.  To me this is not only immature, but in a field with such impact on the way people everywhere live their lives, it is irresponsible. When I first came into IT, in the late 1980's, the British Computer Society was making an effort to get software engineers to certify as something equivalent to chartered engineers.  This effort never came to much.  But I think they had the right idea.  Would you trust your health to a medical practitioner with either no professional accreditation or an accreditation only from one particular drugs company?  Yet this is what organizations of all kinds are doing every day - trusting their health to software practitioners with the same level of "accreditation". Scary, isn't it,  when you come to think about it. -- All the best Keith http://keith.harrison-broninski.info __._,_.___ SPONSORED LINKS Computer software Computer security software Computer software program Computer fax software Computer virus software YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS  Visit your group "service-orientated-architecture" on the web.    To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]    Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. __,_._,___