* Re: more re: If Ada isn't the problem, what is?
@ 1993-04-14 15:29 Wes Groleau X7574
0 siblings, 0 replies; 2+ messages in thread
From: Wes Groleau X7574 @ 1993-04-14 15:29 UTC (permalink / raw)
In article <9304122053.AA10849@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu> SAHARBAUGH@ROO.FIT.EDU writes:
>.............. in a General Accounting Office report. I have
>...........
>The longest list is for "lack of well-defined requirements". I'm not surprize
d,
>are you?
No, I'm not. And that's obviously NOT Ada's fault. A related problem not in
the list (or I missed it) is:
"Specs written by semi-FORTRAN-educated engineers who don't know the difference
between requirements and implementation."
Which means that programmers have to try to persuade management that "searching
a monstrous array of characters for a particular substring and using that
substrings location in a computed GOTO" is not really a requirement.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 2+ messages in thread
* Re: more re: If Ada isn't the problem, what is?
@ 1993-04-16 3:23 cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!portal!cup.portal
0 siblings, 0 replies; 2+ messages in thread
From: cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!portal!cup.portal @ 1993-04-16 3:23 UTC (permalink / raw)
>> No, I'm not. And that's obviously NOT Ada's fault. A related
>> problem not in> the list (or I missed it) is:
>>
>> "Specs written by semi-FORTRAN-educated engineers who don't
>> know the difference between requirements and implementation."
>>
>> Which means that programmers have to try to persuade management
>> Ethat "searching a monstrous array of characters for a particular
>> substring and using that substrings location in a computed GOTO"
>> is not really a requirement.
>
>
>
>I have actually had a requirements document stating that a variable must
>be at a specific memory location. It did not matter if the variable
>was even used or not; it had to be at that location.
I like writing software problem reports to systems saying things like:
"remove implementation details from requirement 1.3.34.5" :-)
Generally they seem to come back with something like "what implementation
detail" and I end up rewriting it FOR them to show them how to not
specify implementation.
Example:
Was something like:
Test memory in with incrementing address pattern.
Becomes something like:
Test memory with an address pattern calculated to
exercise all bank select lines and address lines
on every memory device in all memory banks.
This usually gets a response something along the lines of "oh, that was
what I intended to say in that requirement anyway. I didn't realize
the incrementing pattern was implementation detail" and they go off
an use my example as their requirement change.
R. Tim Coslet
Usenet: R_Tim_Coslet@cup.portal.com
technology, n. domesticated natural phenomena
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