I don't think your worldview is inconsistent with the authors.
Software is one of the few areas where we can easily and rapidly change our tools and the medium we work with. To be professional in this field you must use that ability to systematically remove issues where possible.
To fall back on the mindset that being a good engineer means eschewing those safeguards and relying on discipline is more about image that outcome.
Completely agree. Discipline is only one of many tools at my disposal.
One of the most important things about being a software engineer, in my mind, is the ability to be flexible (I won't say "agile," as that word seems to be pretty much worthless, these days).
One of the disciplines that I've developed, over the years, is writing flexible code; Code that has a future.
One of my favorite text editors is BBEdit[0]. I've been using it since the 1990s. During that time, I've tried others that have been raved about, like Sublime, TextMate and VSCode. I've liked them, but always ended up going back to BBEdit, which has been doing a great job of adapting to the new operating systems and workstyles.
The fact that the app is nearly thirty years old, and started off with a bus factor of 1, says that the original author applied discipline and a "future-facing" design ethos, back in 1992. I can respect that.
I also use Adobe Photoshop, which I first met before Adobe brought it, in the late 1980s. That seems to have grown well.
Software is one of the few areas where we can easily and rapidly change our tools and the medium we work with. To be professional in this field you must use that ability to systematically remove issues where possible.
To fall back on the mindset that being a good engineer means eschewing those safeguards and relying on discipline is more about image that outcome.