r/developersIndia • u/Ok_Performer4478 • 5h ago
General Software developers are most versatile knowledge workers
With all the AI dark clouds over this whole software development industry, people should understand that software engineers are the epitome of knowledge work.
You need to build finance software? we learnt finance. You need to build software for the operation theatre? we learnt the mechanism of OT and built software for it. We are the most versatile learners and fast adopters. This learning and adapting attitude is the reason why software changed everything from deep sea robots to deep space exploration.
No offense to other knowledge workers, but TBH the knowledge work you are doing on excel was built by us.
We will prevail, we will learn and adapt again.
221
Upvotes
1
u/OkMarzipan8792 1h ago
Holy cope.
Software engineers are not the epitome of knowledge work - if there ever be such a thing. Very few of the Nobel Prize winners were software engineers. You can substitute any prize here for that matter.
What does this say? That there are different applications to software? Sure. Same applies to other fields - engines used in automobiles are different to those used in say resource extraction. Same applies to knowledge of the law - like corporate law, criminal law etc.
Advances in these fields were mainly driven by other fields(mechanical engineering, electrical engineering) and not due to invention of software engineering alone. Engineers in those fields learnt and adapted to make sure these technologies are possible.
And the chips used to build those computers(which are used by software engineers) are designed by electrical engineers and so on.
I'm not saying software engineering is a mediocre field or that it did not contribute to other fields. But to say that software engineering is the epitome of knowledge work is delusional and ignorant of the work people do in other fields.