Hi Tome

>In my previous life I was an electronics engineer. I find that the term “engineer” associated with software to be very inaccurate and misleading. True engineering has predictable results that can be proven using mathematics and physics.
>
>Personally, I think that software is more of an abstract phenomenon, requiring mathematical, and business skills, as well as creativity, to be successful. There is no true model that one can emulate in software and reproduce a new success with predictable results. There are too many variables to consider as I see it. The more complex the project the less control you have over the end result (delivery time and cost).
>
>I think my problem with software is attempting to use predictability in a discipline where you have no true concept of the total number of variables or which variables to consider. :)

And you are not alone in that! This dilemma lies at the very heart of software project management and, as I said earlier, is due to the fact that there are no absolute measuring tools to use.