[throwawayboise]

One of the things that has struck me as ironic for people who like to call themselves "engineers" is how resistant to documentation some software developers are. I understand and have experienced all the problems with documentation taking time and how easily it can get out of date, but when I look at what other engineers do when they need to modify a building or structure, they immediately go to the blueprints that tell them how the building is put together, where the structural support is, where the wiring and plumbing is, etc.

I guess those can just as easily suffer getting out of date, not updated with small changes, etc. but at least they provide a picture of how the thing was built in the first place, a picture that is still helpful for understanding.