11 Apr
2006
11 Apr
'06
5:13 p.m.
I didn't claim otherwise. Like I said, there have
always been
dunderheads. More CPU power will just give them the ability to make
mistakes faster.
However, there are many instances when the raw horsepower of modern CPUs
can be used with poor algorithms, and still have the same result in the
end. If I have a nice fast microcontroller, and I need to do a sort of a
bunch of numbers, in many cases I can make a brain dead choice and use
something like a bubble sort and get away with it. If my engineering
manager knew I spent a whole day trying to find a perfect sort, yet the
end result makes no difference to the rest of the project - well, my raise
my not be too hot that year.
The same is true for storage - semi or disk. Many times one can get away
with not being a hero engineer.
There is a lot more to engineering than what goes on in the lab.
It is cute, but in real life engineering is a
combination of both. Even
in the old days, things were prototyped, and designs didn't launch from
draftsman hand to production.
Resulting in miles of cool stock movie footage of rockets blowing up,
amongst other things.
William Donzelli
aw288 at osfn.org