Software Artists

I think this theme is definitely important, and I believe in the present and near future people are realizing this reality. So I congratulate you for this article.

Now for the critic...When you split between engineering and art, I tend to disagree. I think engineering is also a form of art, in what relates to creativity, beauty and emotion drive. For example, the beauty of a construction: one may argue that the architect is an artist, but the engineering itself can be beautiful, for instance, on the simplicity of the structures, the way the light enters in the inside (this is really an engineering problem). The effort of the engineer was drived by his feelings, his ideas, and the emotions he placed on the future of the users for the house.

More generally, I think there is no world where we can drop the art, as we cannot drop the feelings. Every piece of software we create, every test we design, every chair we build, has a beauty that will echo when someone else will see our mind through that work (of art)


--- "Chris McMahon" wrote:
>
> A couple of times on this list I've mentioned starting what I call the
> "Artistic School" of software development and testing. I think it's
> critically important to have intellectually rigorous descriptions of
> software practice that are *not* based in the language of
> manufacturing or engineering.
>
> To that end, I have published The Software Artists:
> http://chrismcmahonsblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/software-artists-index-of-links-to-all.html.> This is an attempt to describe software practice in the language of
> art and performance instead of manufacturing and engineering.
>
> I"m interested in comments and criticism on the paper. I vacillate
> between thinking it's either the coolest thing I've ever written, or
> completely and totally irrelevant. It might also be just a mildly
> interesting failure.
>
> Anyway, if you read it, let me know what you think.
> -Chris