How would you explain that software engineering is more specialized than other engineering fields?

Posted by Spencer K on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by Spencer K
Published on 2012-04-13T13:34:53Z Indexed on 2012/04/13 17:42 UTC
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I work with someone who insists that any good software engineer can develop in any software technology, and experience in a particular technology doesn't matter to building good software. His analogy was that you don't have to have knowledge of the product being built to know how to build an assembly line that manufactures said product.

In a way it's a compliment to be viewed with an eye such that "if you're good, you're good at everything", but in a way it also trivializes the profession, as in "Codemonkey, go sling code". Without experience in certain software frameworks, you can get in trouble fast, and that's important.

I tried explaining this, but he didn't buy it. Any different views or thoughts on this to help explain that my experience in one thing, doesn't translate to all things?

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