Re: Safety-critical development in Ada and Eiffel

[Ken Garlington <kennieg@flash.net>]

Samuel Mize wrote:
> 
> The Ariane crash proves that properly-managed DBC would be
> better than DBMG (Design By Management Guesswork).  It neither
> supports nor refutes the thesis that DBC is better than other
> responsible/traditional engineering methods.
> 
> I can't say that Meyer et al. intended to imply otherwise, but
> it is certainly a reasonable inference for the reader to draw,
> given the paper.  That inference angered some people.

By the way, if anyone wants to read the two papers for themselves:

Ariane V final report:

   http://www.esrin.esa.it/htdocs/tidc/Press/Press96/ariane5rep.html

Eiffel paper on Ariane V:

  
http://www.eiffel.com/doc/manuals/technology/contract/ariane/index.html

which contains the now-infamous quote:

   "Does this mean that the crash would automatically have been
   avoided had the mission used a language and method supporting
built-in
   assertions and Design by Contract? Although it is always risky to
draw
   such after-the-fact conclusions, the answer is probably yes:"

Note the term "language and method." As explained later in the paper,
only Eiffel meets the required criteria. Both are required, per Meyer.

> 
> Samuel Mize