The longer I work in software, the more convinced I am that the term "computer science" is mostly hogwash, as it applies to software development. Writing software is a lot more like writing a story than it is like baking a cake or doing qualitative analysis of soil samples. Given the same task, 3 programmers will do it 5 different ways, and each will have its unique beauty, its unique ugliness, and its unique ways to solve the tricky problems that come up along the way.
I'm lucky enough to work with some folks who have very creative ways to solve problems, rather than cut-and-pasting someone else's solution.
And it never ceases to amaze me how every industry, no matter how stodgy or boring of itself, provides opportunities for unique creative expression. And no matter how much experience I have, I keep encountering folks with far less experience, but far more creativity and talent. I firmly believe in the old adage that one should hire people smarter than oneself.
Have you read McConnell's books? He makes a convincing case for the methodologies needed to treat software development as if science backed. He basically says that even if most people do not use industry proven practices to generate on time and quality software that does not mean they do not exist, and proceeds to enumerate the practices.
Of course most practices he describes, making as much sense as they make, will and cannot tell you which algorithm or design you'll have to apply in a particular circumstance. It's just that the science is moved a bit backwards, to where it can be found in regular science backed professions, in the design of the solutions.
You could say a bridge builder can put stones many different ways, but the bridge design, to sustain itself, has a lot less degrees of freedom.
Rich, I love your post, reference to poetry and prise to human creativity; also the advice to employers :-)
However the little tidbit that has touched my nerve was about computer science not being the science. Sadly enough this was also what I believed when I was choosing my university courses. I'd chosen applied math since I was sure computer science is not a science but a craft.
How deeply I had to regret of that afterwards! It was enough for me to discover just one site on the internet to realise how deeply wron I'd beedn. The site was http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/ Every day of the week it has fresh samples of of often a deep a profound scientific study. Granted these studies more often then not do not prove to be immediately useful to us people in the industry, the cruftsmen. But that's what the science should be like - looking into deeper workings of the universe with its results useful the after tomorrow if ever at all.
And should I had studief these at the univ this would have definitely had made me a better craftsman too. Oh the wasted time you will never come back! :)