Definitions: Engineering/Design/Arch/Art, Was: Re: Hello 2015

[Stephen D. Williams]

SDW Definition time again: (Feel free to comment, flame, etc.  I'm not
expecting to be authoritative; I dump my opinions this way to get validation
or enlightenment as the case may warrant.)


When there are few very good solutions that are hard to beat, selection is
ENGINEERING.  (Bridges, Trusses, levers, gears, Qsort, b*trees, standard
hashes, PKI, standard GUI's) A 'Sparse Solution Space'.

When there are many options about how to even approach a situation,
selection of problems to solve, axii to optimize, ground rules to be set, it
is ARCHITECTURE (both the physical and IT kinds).  This is the galactic (or
solar) view of problem and solution spaces.

When there are many options in a narrow view of a particular set of problem,
it is DESIGN.  A 'Dense Solution Space'.  (Going from raw requirements to
objects is design, an art to varying degrees.)

One view of SCIENCE is that it is the process of innovative solutions, i.e.
'designs', and their progress to engineering solutions.  An unknown, poorly
understood, wide-open solution space.  (I would not pose this as the
canonical definition for science.)

ART, as such, is the selection of a 'problem' or goal (mood, feeling,
beauty, understanding, knowledge) and maximally creative exploration of
attaining that goal in the mind of the recipient or the artist themselves.



Choosing architecture and design are on the art side of the spectrum.

Engineering is on the non-art (i.e. engineering) side of the spectrum.  Pure
engineering strives to remove art by replicating optimal solutions.  Another
view is that Engineering moves art to a higher level by avoiding creativity
at the lower levels.  IMHO, this is why art is seen in overall building
architecture rather than in many small details.

Pure Art strives to 'remove engineering', i.e. to avoid what has been done
before by being maximally creative in expression, use, material,
juxtaposition, and meaning.


> writing code is art, because our profession sucks as a science. It will
> continue to be an art till we have well defined principles, patterns
> established.

IT is rich in science, it's just not documented, cataloged, shared, or
analyzed with a shared semantic syntax, patterns in other words.  I find it
one of the best scientific areas because so much is still very fluid, but it
does suffer from lack of knowledge management organization.  I think this is
more a function of breadth and variety than narrowness or unsuitability.
Not to mention a gap between those that are on the edge of IT and those that
are experts at lasting formalisms (academia).



> It is not necessary for the code to be good to be called art. Even bad
> code can be considered art. If the code evokes strong feelings (
> negative, positive), think that it is art. For example, some paintings
> are so disgusting, the NY museam of art puts them on display.
> Similarly, some code is so disgusting, Microsoft releases it as sample
> code.
>
> Sateesh
>
>
>>
>> >> 1) Can good code be art? Am I a software artist? How to display
>> >> this
> art?
>> >
>> >I suppose it depends on what you mean by "good code", "art", and
>> >"artist".
>> >
>>
>> You can also put a banned encryption algorithm written in Perl on a
> t-shirt
>> and wear it like I have seen done. I don't know if that is art. I
>> don't
> know
>> how to define art. My intuition tells me that writing code is an art
>> but many prefer to think of themselves as engineers. Some artists
>> don't
> consider
>> architecture art. This question doesn't seem as interesting because I
>> am thinking of new ways of becoming an artist.
>>
>> >> 6) Why does Bill Gates have such a profound lack of imagination?
>> >> Why
> doesn't
>> >> he buy a space shuttle and take all of us who made him rich up for
>> >> a
> ride?
>> >
>> >I don't know him, so I can't tell you.  I suspect he's too busy
>> >struggling for dominance in the software market.
>> >
>>
>> I am having trouble getting through to people on the net and in real
>> life with this question. Maybe it because it is a stupid question or
>> maybe I
> have
>> taken a leap of imagination that others haven't made yet. What would
>> you
> do
>> with 50 billion dollars? Think of the possibilities. What I want Bill
> Gates
>> to do is have a decent mid-life crisis like the rest of us and do
> something
>> insanely great, as Steve Jobs would say. I was being only slightly
> facetious
>> in my comment about the space shuttle. Why not fund the next
>> generation Hubble space telescope so we can get more questions about
>> the universe answered in his lifetime? I know I am tilting at
>> windmills here but I feel
> I
>> have to say something. Danny Hillis is doing something imaginative
>> with
> his
>> money by building the Clock of the Long Now.
>>
>>
>> >> 7) What happened to the kid that loved writing code for his first
> computer
>> >> (4k ram)?
>> >
>> >You must have joined Microsoft pretty young.  Only you can answer
>> >that.
>> >
>>
>> He's been talking to computers for the last 20 years and now wants to
>> talk to people.
>>
>> Thanks for correcting my spelling and for providing references. It is
>> important to be accurate although I can't remember where I read
>> something most of the time. I too am concerned with anoxia.
>>
>> Michael
>> I am an imperfect human being. I reserve the right to say something
>> stupid and mean it.
>>
>>
>>
>> http://xent.com/mailman/listinfo/fork
>
>
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-- 
sdw@lig.net http://sdw.st
Stephen D. Williams
43392 Wayside Cir,Ashburn,VA 20147-4622 703-724-0118W 703-995-0407Fax Dec2001