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Is Software Engineering Still an Oxymoron? (live streamed)

Alan Kay | GOTO Amsterdam 2022

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**If "engineering" means "designing and making things in principled ways", then it's certainly the case that much of "making software" is also "software engineering".** Alan Kay thinks what the question is trying to get at is whether the "principles and methods so far" in software are as qualitatively strong and extensive as those in the developed fields of Engineering -- civil, electrical, mechanical, aeronautical, etc. And perhaps also whether the software field is doing all that could be done to boost the "engineering" term in "software engineering" to have the same kinds of meanings as in the developed fields. Alan Kay will give his talk from home and will be live streamed to the room Effectenbeurszaal. Q&A still possible with moderation by our GOTO expert. *The title of this talk was suggested by the GOTO conference organizers.

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Transcript

If "engineering" means "designing and making things in principled ways", then it's certainly the case that much of "making software" is also "software engineering".

Alan Kay thinks what the question is trying to get at is whether the "principles and methods so far" in software are as qualitatively strong and extensive as those in the developed fields of Engineering -- civil, electrical, mechanical, aeronautical, etc. And perhaps also whether the software field is doing all that could be done to boost the "engineering" term in "software engineering" to have the same kinds of meanings as in the developed fields.

Alan Kay will give his talk from home and will be live streamed to the room Effectenbeurszaal. Q&A still possible with moderation by our GOTO expert.

*The title of this talk was suggested by the GOTO conference organizers.

About the speakers

Alan Kay

Alan Kay

Computer scientist & Turing Award winner

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