Software actually

Through an in-depth ethnographic inquiry into a navigation software company based in Berlin, Paula Bialski has accomplished the daring feat of describing corporate software development in action. What can we learn from this radical lesson of empiricism for the further social study of computer science and technology? First, that it is crucial not to succumb too quickly to the sirens of big tech and start-up hype, both of which represent only the most visible and noisy part of a much richer and more diverse ecosystem. Second, that it is essential to be wary of conventional discourses on software development – which often repeat, propagate, and therefore amplify moral idealizations – and to focus instead on patiently describing concrete practices. Third, that corporate software development is shaped by ‘good enoughing,’ understood as the practice of deliberately defining an appropriate stopping point that maintains the software’s quality while also respecting the developer’s time, energy, and personal investment in the work. Finally, that it remains to find ways of documenting computer programming situations, which continue to resist the ethnographic gaze.