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| Why do "programmers" call themselves... "engineers"?! |
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| tggzzz:
--- Quote from: magic on November 16, 2019, 05:02:48 pm ---Okay, I will take the bait ::) microcoded processors - is the microcode hardware or software Of course software. --- End quote --- No, since the microcode defines the ISA, amongst other things. As wackypedia puts it: "Microcode is a computer hardware technique..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcode --- Quote ---how intel can issue bugfixes to its x86 processors that are installed on motherboards in customers premises Because the CPU runs software, duh. Or by recall, like the FDIV bug. --- End quote --- No, they issue microcode updates which change the processor's capabilities and operation. They would have made it unnecessary to recall processors because of the FDIV bug. --- Quote ---whether a finite state machine specification (e.g. to control traffic lights) is hardware or software - or both or neither Some pedants could argue that a spec is neither, unless in some formal executable language, then it's software. --- End quote --- I wondered if someone would pick up on that, but it would be more enlightening if you addresses the substance of the key point. --- Quote ---is someone implementing a function in an FPGA a hardware or software engineer Most likely hardware engineer, because software engineers rarely know how to produce this particular piece of software. That being said, I have heard work is under way to make FPGA programming more "inclusive" for code monkeys. is someone implementing a DSP function a hardware or software engineer I sure hope he's the latter :P --- End quote --- Which is more likely to understand, say, a Chebyshev filter, a digital PLL, an IQ modulator, a Viterbi decoder, Kalman filters etc. Not a software engineer. --- Quote ---is someone implementing a mechatronic product a hardware or software engineer No idea what that is, meh. --- End quote --- Google is your friend: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechatronics |
| magic:
To me the distinction is really simple: if you can crash your foot with (a sufficient quantity of) it, it's hardware. If you can get it from the 'net without involving Fedex, it's software :P There are things which are neither but I doubt anything is both. By your logic JRE is hardware ::) And I appreciate the irony of using wackypedia as an authoritative source while calling it out for what it is ;D |
| tggzzz:
--- Quote from: magic on November 16, 2019, 05:50:01 pm ---To me the distinction is really simple: if you can crash your foot with (a sufficient quantity of) it, it's hardware. If you can get it from the 'net without involving Fedex, it's software :P There are things which are neither but I doubt anything is both. By your logic JRE is hardware ::) And I appreciate the irony of using wackypedia as an authoritative source while calling it out for what it is ;D --- End quote --- Ah. The Humpty Dumpty definition of words. That's all very well until you want to communicate with other people. Maybe you don't want to communicate? Your JRE and wackypedia straw man arguments are bizarre. It would also help if you addressed the substantive points. |
| Mr. Scram:
Where do these people designing equipment find the nerve to call themselves engineers? I bet most have never worked on an engine or driven the locomotive of a train. Sitting in an office fiddling with numbers is nice and all but we know who the real engineers are. I doubt the applicable group came up with the term. These generally seem to be made up by HR departments trying to upsell not too glamorous positions. The world is forced to play ball as the original terms deflate as a consequence. |
| Scrts:
Is it me only that think "programmer" is a tool (think of hammer) to program a chip or a memory device and the discussion here is about software engineer? E.g. hardware engineer does lots of schematics engineering as well and sometimes none of actual hardware, which is handled by SMT machines and technicians if needed. Debug and validation activities excluded. |
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