90% of software engineering is knowing what not to write

It's clear that software engineering is changing. Gone are the days of code output being the core bottleneck for most projects. In any medium to large company, the plan-code-test cycle is the most efficient way to write software going forward. If you're still in denial, you're falling behind. However, that is not what defines a software engineer or engineering in general. The following is the first line defining engineering in wikipedia : Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve systems. Notice how it consists of two broad active verbs, practice and solve . But there's a third word hiding in plain sight: design . Design is inherently about tradeoffs — what to include and what to exclude. We're seeing an inflection point in the solution part. Just like punch cards were made obsolete by handcrafting assembly, followed by ever higher level lan