Re:Margaret Hamilton has died
by dadrian on Thursday October 08, 2026 @12:10AM
(#50001751)
Hamilton invented the idea of error handling in software, and that error handling in the Apollo computer is why Buzz Aldrin was able to handle the error 1201/1202 in the minutes before the Eagle landed on the moon, instead of having to abort the mission.
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Re:Margaret Hamilton has died
by peterfirefly on Thursday October 08, 2026 @02:22AM
(#50002393)
> invented the idea of error handling in software
No. Obviously not.
Assume it’s not obvious and offer an interesting contribution, such as an alternative.
I wonder if that was just an outgrowth of NASA's "plan for failure" ethos.
But, I also wonder if that ethos was apart of early NASA before they had failures to learn from... Hmm...
Re:Margaret Hamilton has died
by codewritinfool on Thursday October 08, 2026 @09:13AM
(#50005434)
Certainly that could be described as "error handling", but I would describe what saved the landing as priority scheduling combined with restart protection.
You are misremembering something you read. Software written in 1950s already had error handling in it.