There is a subfield of programming that feels pretty grown-up: mission critical applications where a bug can cost you a multi-million dollar spacecraft or a pla

There is a subfield of programming that feels pretty grown-up: mission critical applications where a bug can cost you a multi-million dollar spacecraft or a plane-load of human lives. The pace of innovation can feel glacial, safety("has this been done before, is it reliable") is valued above "brilliance", and the whole process with its checks and tests and paperwork can feel stifling, but it produces complex code that works(most of the time). I wonder if this is a local maxima, though, and if there are more effective ways to produce rock-solid, high performance code. I'd love to see how SpaceX produce their code, for instance.