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This is possibly the silliest post I've ever read. Apparently you don't know the definition of engineering and, most astonishing, claim building projects are always perfectly estimated. I doubt ANY building project ever finished on time or under budget. If everything were tidy and well understood, it wouldn't be engineering. Stick to software, Ian.

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Having studied Software Engineering as a degree, I can assure you they teach software engineers the definition of "engineering", and stress that we are practicing something else or, at a stretch, an extension of engineering somewhat different from civil or mechanical. I realise that building projects probably suffer from many of the same weaknesses, but the degree of rigour, and ability to reason about the project, is definitely way higher than on software projects. I knew a few civil, mechanical and aeronautical engineers, and they tend to agree. That said, definitions like this can be hard to pin down!

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