The excellent book "Dreaming in Code" (1) follows a software project that takes way longer than expected, keeps changing goals, and is generally a mess. The author says "If the subject of software’s flaws is discussed for more than a few minutes at a time, it is a certainty that someone will eventually pound a fist on the table and say, “Why can’t we build software the way we build bridges?”". Then he shows how the San Francisco Bay Bridge project ended up going very much like a software project, complete with major changes in specs years into building.
And of course, since I'm in Boston I'm required to mention the Big Dig (2), which was a tunnel and bridge project that cost over $14 billion. Oh, and a ceiling panel fell, killing a woman in her car. And the guardrails in the tunnels tend to kill motorcyclists who would otherwise suffer only minor injuries. Plus the all 25,000 of the 120 pound (55 kg) light fixtures in the tunnel ceilings have to be replaced lest more of them fall, maybe killing more people.
But yeah, let's keep trying to make software engineering just like civil engineering.
And of course, since I'm in Boston I'm required to mention the Big Dig (2), which was a tunnel and bridge project that cost over $14 billion. Oh, and a ceiling panel fell, killing a woman in her car. And the guardrails in the tunnels tend to kill motorcyclists who would otherwise suffer only minor injuries. Plus the all 25,000 of the 120 pound (55 kg) light fixtures in the tunnel ceilings have to be replaced lest more of them fall, maybe killing more people.
But yeah, let's keep trying to make software engineering just like civil engineering.
1. http://www.dreamingincode.com/ 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dig