Re: Papers on the Ariane-5 crash and Design by Contract

[dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar)]

Joachim said

<<In the specific projects I'm working on it's even sensible that way. It
is business programming with non-critical data, like sales personnel
reports and similar stuff. The cost to get the bugs out of the system ...>>

To me, such an approach is never sensible. Look at the Y2K mess -- a perfect
example of the magnitude of trouble you can get into if you abandon an
emphasis on quality .... Yes, in the short run, it might make sense for
the supplier to cut corners, if all they are interested in is the bottom
line in the near future, but in the long run, for both consumers and the
vendors, this kind of short sightedness pays negative dividends.

Here is an interesting thought: The use of computers has added $x to the
aggregate bottom line of companies in the world. Assessing the magnitude
of x is difficult, but I think that, unlike the situation twenty years
ago, when some economists were not so sure, people generally agree that
the value of x is positive and substantial.

But ... could the cost of fixing the Y2K mess, including the cost of
ancilliary litigation associated with this mess, exceed x, and wipe out
the aggregate advantage (in a business sense) of computers counted over
their history so far???