Comment by magicbuzz

Working in research as a software engineer can be very frustrating. I wrote the majority of the analysis code for one of the chapters of the IPCC 5th Assessment and yet was told my name couldn't be put anywhere as I wasn't a 'scientist'. I also consistently see people who have never written much code put in charge of projects where the majority of the work/research is writing software. These projects end up with no code repository use, poor quality control, zero testing, limited OO use - all the things that a professional would take for granted. Worse, they don't perceive the difference between a postdoc who can write code and a professional developer with years of experience. So they hire the cheaper option and end up with the usual 'ball of mud'.