In all the [licensed] engineering disciples, when a design fails, the engineers are blamed. Thus, when a bridge collapses, we ask, "What did the engineers do wrong?" When software fails, the engineers are rarely blamed. If they are, the engineers respond with, "The error always existed. My change just exposed it," or "I was just following the pattern," or "My manager made me do it," or " The schedule left insufficient time to do it right." The fact is that the best methods can be utilized in any engineering discipline to produce awful designs. And the most antiquated methods can be utilized in any engineering discipline to produce elegant designs.
There are no excuses. If you are the developer of a system, it is your responsibility to do it right. Take that responsibility. Do it right, or don't do it at all.
Reference:
Hoare, C.A.R., "Software Engineering: A Keynote Address," IEEE 3rd International Conference on Software Engineering, 1978.
