LOGO-L> Re: Software

[John_Penney@post.peek-traffic.co.uk]

     Kenneth W Melvin asked...
     
     [snip]
     > Just out of curiosity, what kind of background is required to be 
     > labelled a "software engineer" rather than  "computer programmer"? 
     [snip]
     
     That's a good question, and one that confused me when I wanted to be a 
     computer programmer and got my first job offer as a "software 
     engineer"!  As it turns out, I think there's a great deal of 
     difference.  Someone with a background in some "real" engineering 
     profession (ie. dealing with something more tangible than 
     bits'n'bytes) might answer this question better - my initial training 
     was in Mathematics, which is another profession dealing in the 
     intangible.
     
     Computer programming was something I did on the school's Pet, and 
     later on my own Sinclair Spectrum!  ;-)
     
     Software engineering could be said to encompass principles of software 
     design, including different design methodologies, requirements capture 
     and analysis, writing test and design specifications, user and 
     maintenance manuals..blah blah blah - lots of impressive words :-) 
     But the bottom line, from experience, seems to be that in software 
     engineering, writing the code is just a small part of the job.  And 
     it's not always the most interesting part either!
     
     All of the above probably seems irrelevant to teachers of Logo.  Of 
     course, there is nothing wrong in simply using Logo as a tool to 
     encourage students to think logically and refine their problem solving 
     skills.  That's very important!  But perhaps there is also a place for 
     including design and test considerations, or working in projects where 
     each student's programs have to interact to produce a larger whole?
     
     Perhaps you already do all this anyway!
     
     Cheers!
     
     John

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