Re:Boeing's 737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers
by rbanffy on Saturday June 29, 2019 @02:17PM
(#20313961)
About typos, if the typo is part of the spec, that's what the software should implement. If the spec gets revised, then the programmers should implement the revised version.
When you have software that interacts with other software, you follow the spec because you know the spec is going to be followed by the other parts, and that you should not get imaginative when human lives depend on your software working correctly.
The MCAS incident shows software that worked as expected, based on a spec that had incorrect and missing information and pilots that didn't have the information to understand the erroneous behavior. Also, the motors that actuate the trim wheels exert so much force that the pilots weren't able to counteract their action.
When you have software that interacts with other software, you follow the spec because you know the spec is going to be followed by the other parts, and that you should not get imaginative when human lives depend on your software working correctly.
The MCAS incident shows software that worked as expected, based on a spec that had incorrect and missing information and pilots that didn't have the information to understand the erroneous behavior. Also, the motors that actuate the trim wheels exert so much force that the pilots weren't able to counteract their action.