Martin Fowler has a worthwile short piece about using analogies with other professions. The software industry is often compared to the construction industry. (Which I, as programming civil engineer, find funny, by the way, as the construction industry is just as bad on some points).
His advise: Comparing to another activity is useful if it helps you formulate questions, it's dangerous when you use it to justify answers.
Good point.
My name is Reinout van Rees and I work a lot with Python (programming language) and Django (website framework). I live in The Netherlands and I'm happily married to Annie van Rees-Kooiman.
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