Morlock Elloi on Fri, 15 Mar 2019 06:33:38 +0100 (CET)


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Re: <nettime> rage against the machine


This is the key. Designers do not understand impact of the complexity that emerges from combining relatively simple components. This is especially amplified in real-time processing of multiple inputs.
In a completely different field (packet switching from millions of end 
points) we had to design separate monitoring system because it was 
impossible to understand what our own system is doing in real time. The 
monitoring code was almost as complex as the switching code. We are 
talking less than 100K lines each.
Airline modules are in millions of code lines. My assessment is that 
human life should not depend on anything with more than 50K lines of 
code total, period. Anyone claiming that there are proper testing 
procedures for huge systems is either a liar on an idiot. Enterprise 
software contractors are often both. The general public has no slightest 
idea of the dismal state of the software development industry.

Sarter said, “We now have this systemic problem with complexity, and it
does not involve just one manufacturer.
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