Engineering, Components, and Software

AS a verb, “engineer” means to plan, manage, or construct. That’s what an engineer does. A craftsperson does the same but in a quite different way. “Craft” carries the meaning of individual creative effort, of ‘hand’ work, of aesthetic goals as well as utilitarian ones, of less planning and more ‘just doing.’ The engineer follows rules (learned at an accredited engineering school, of course) while a craftsperson is more likely to have served an apprenticeship, or to make it up as s/he goes along. Both have another discipline to which they may aspire though they may not attain its standard: for the craftsperson it is ‘art,’ while for the engineer it is ‘science.’