Re: C.A.R. Hoare on liability

["SteveD" <nospam_steved94@attbi.com>]

"Robert Dewar" <dewar@gnat.com> wrote in message
news:5ee5b646.0206210355.3533be8f@posting.google.com...
[snip]
>
> First, runtime checks can be deadly if you have not done proper analysis
> of how they can be handled, since they can turn trivial errors that would
> not intefere with overall correct function into disasters (Ariane5 is
> an example of this in action).
>
Of course the errors detected by runtime checks might not be trivial errors
as well.  I can recall a case where an occasional overflow in calculations
in an old FORTRAN program caused some very large machinery to move to a very
awkward position.

As you say there is no substitute for doing a proper analysis.

SteveD