I'm in the same boat, I'm hoping firmware / embedded might be better in this regard due to the inherit constraints. If not then EE is probably the only other option. Anyone else have thoughts on this? I'm craving a more civil engineering approach to rigor rather than the mess of modern software. Perhaps that means software just isn't for me.

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globular-toast 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I'm definitely wanting to do something with more of a civil engineering approach to rigour. More and more I think software is full of children who don't care and don't know the meaning of responsibility.

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nextos an hour ago | parent [-]

Maybe formal methods have a chance of becoming mainstream now [1]?

This would increase the rigor of software engineering and put it on par with civil engineering.

Some niches like real-time embedded systems are already pretty much the same.

[1] https://martin.kleppmann.com/2025/12/08/ai-formal-verificati...

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vsgherzi an hour ago | parent [-]

I doubt it, I feel like it might improve shops that already care and are already creating with rigor. I don't think it'll raise the bar for the avg shop. However, perhaps that's just be being cynical. By real time embedded is the same do you mean the same in the sense that they are just as poor in quality?

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nextos an hour ago | parent [-]

> [...] the same in the sense that they are just as poor in quality?

I mean some real-time software for critical embedded systems has an incredible level of rigor, making heavy use of static analysis, model checking, and theorem proving.

	▲	vsgherzi an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Noted, perhaps I'll investigate as a possible next career step. Thanks!