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From: Robert Dewar <robert_dewar@my-deja.com>
Subject: Re: if statements
Date: 2000/11/09
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In article <3A0ABE18.24CACAFB@acm.org>,
  Marin David Condic <mcondic.nospam@acm.org> wrote:
> I'd agree with the "Necessary/Not-Sufficient" part of this
> statement, but to say that "It Works" is not the MOST
> important thing, I think is a mistake.

Your pickup truck example is actually instructive, but you
mispresent it. Sure the pickup truck must run, but must it
work 100%? If you say yes, I am sorry to tell you that in
practice all trucks and cars are delivered with defects.
Hopefully not serious enough to stop them running, but
certainly they are not 100% "correct".

And that is an apt analogy. Software is almost never 100%
correct if it is of any complexity, it works well enough on
an initial delivery, but will undergo a long and labor
intensive history of bug fixing, modification and improvement.

Sure, the software must work reasonably well, but to focus on
correct function to the exclusion of maintainability will result
in software that does not necessarily work any better on initial
delivery, and for SURE will start to work worse as it is
maintained.

OK, if we are talking safety-critical certified software, then
correct function does indeed become paramount, but in most
applcations this is definitely a distortion.


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