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I don't even work on life-or-death machinery, only JavaScript UI's, but if a higher-up requested a new feature from me that would require multiple cascading cha

by _bxg1 8y ago

I don't even work on life-or-death machinery, only JavaScript UI's, but if a higher-up requested a new feature from me that would require multiple cascading changes just to keep other things from breaking, I would fight tooth and nail to talk them out of it. The compromises you're talking about are fundamentally unavoidable ones that come directly from the constraints at hand. A hack is something that degrades the integrity of the overall system for the sake of a short-term feature. Hacks are the payday loans of technical debt.

WalterBright 8y ago
They're the same thing. BTW, many aircraft crashes were due to a pilot doing what would have been the right thing on another design they were familiar with. Boeing's plan to make the MAX behave like other airplanes is a reasonable plan to improve safety. The "multiple cascading changes" is always an issue with a complex design, and in fact Boeing's approach with the Max was choosing a route which minimized those cascading changes.
- mcny 8y ago
  » They're the same thing. BTW, many aircraft crashes were due to a pilot doing what would have been the right thing on another design they were familiar with. Boeing's plan to make the MAX behave like other airplanes is a reasonable plan to improve safety. » The "multiple cascading changes" is always an issue with a complex design, and in fact Boeing's approach with the Max was choosing a route which minimized those cascading changes. I think the charges people are bringing is that Boeing wanted to make the new airplane acceptable by airliners by making the 737 Max the same as the old plane so there was no need to certify pilots for the new plane. My vote is that this is criminal negligence at best and under an ideal government, the then CEO and board would be in jail pending charges right now.
  - WalterBright 8y ago
    You wouldn't have any planes (trains or automobiles) under such a standard. Keep in mind that horses killed far more people per mile than planes, trains or automobiles ever did.
- Gibbon1 8y ago
  > "multiple cascading changes" That's aircraft in a nutshell. I read a book on light aircraft design by a now long dead professor[2]. He had a penciled out analysis of what would happen to a 2 seater light plane if you replaced the simple and light stick with cables design[1] with a hydraulic one. Only added about 40lbs more weigh. Or 300lbs when that was propagated through the design. And needed a bigger engine. [1] Control surfaces operated by a system of cables and pulleys controlled by a stick. [2] KD Wood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Dawson_Wood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Dawson_Wood

by _bxg1 8y ago

WalterBright 8y ago

They're the same thing. BTW, many aircraft crashes were due to a pilot doing what would have been the right thing on another design they were familiar with. Boeing's plan to make the MAX behave like other airplanes is a reasonable plan to improve safety. The "multiple cascading changes" is always an issue with a complex design, and in fact Boeing's approach with the Max was choosing a route which minimized those cascading changes.

mcny 8y ago
» They're the same thing. BTW, many aircraft crashes were due to a pilot doing what would have been the right thing on another design they were familiar with. Boeing's plan to make the MAX behave like other airplanes is a reasonable plan to improve safety. » The "multiple cascading changes" is always an issue with a complex design, and in fact Boeing's approach with the Max was choosing a route which minimized those cascading changes. I think the charges people are bringing is that Boeing wanted to make the new airplane acceptable by airliners by making the 737 Max the same as the old plane so there was no need to certify pilots for the new plane. My vote is that this is criminal negligence at best and under an ideal government, the then CEO and board would be in jail pending charges right now.
- WalterBright 8y ago
  You wouldn't have any planes (trains or automobiles) under such a standard. Keep in mind that horses killed far more people per mile than planes, trains or automobiles ever did.
Gibbon1 8y ago
> "multiple cascading changes" That's aircraft in a nutshell. I read a book on light aircraft design by a now long dead professor[2]. He had a penciled out analysis of what would happen to a 2 seater light plane if you replaced the simple and light stick with cables design[1] with a hydraulic one. Only added about 40lbs more weigh. Or 300lbs when that was propagated through the design. And needed a bigger engine. [1] Control surfaces operated by a system of cables and pulleys controlled by a stick. [2] KD Wood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Dawson_Wood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Dawson_Wood