Re: new programmer wondering what to learn

["Marin David Condic, 561.796.8997, M/S 731-93" <condicma@PWFL.COM>]

Robert Dewar <dewar@MERV.CS.NYU.EDU> writes:
>What is meant by this mention is simply that one (of may) tasks of CM
>is ensuring that builds are consistent. Ada assists in this process as
>a kind of after the fact checker in that the Ada system will check that
>a consistent system has been built.
>
    O.K. I see the point. If two versions of a file differ in
    specification, Ada is going to warn you about it. The compilation
    system by design has to do some sort of time stamping or version
    checking to know what's out of date. I can see how that can be
    construed as "Configuration Management".

    It's just that most of us who have to deal with industrial
    strength Configuration Management (it gets really important to
    know that the software you're loading in someone's jet is the
    exact same identical software that you ran all those verification
    tests on!) don't usually consider the "developmental" build
    process to fall under "CM". A developmental build - perhaps made
    to satisfy yourself that everything still compiles as you are
    stirring around in the files - doesn't need to be repeatably
    re-built, so it doesn't need to fall under what we usually call
    "Configuration Management".

    If, on the other hand, you want to make a build which actually
    goes into the lab for any sort of "formal" testing, then you need
    to know the differences between vsn N and vsn N+1 and you need to
    be able to reproduce through some means the exact same image you
    gave to the lab. That involves "Configuration Management" and in
    that area I don't see Ada (or any language, theoretical or actual)
    having much to do with that sort of issue.

    I guess it's another one of those "Lets go to the S-OED or
    Webster's" issues which is tough to resolve when well meaning and
    intelligent people can easily say "around here when we say X we
    mean...."

    MDC

Marin David Condic, Senior Computer Engineer    ATT:        561.796.8997
Pratt & Whitney, GESP                           Fax:        561.796.4669
West Palm Beach, FL                             Internet:   CONDICMA@PWFL.COM
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