6 ms·

Agreed, the amount of validation work that goes into these projects must be amazing, and even then the engineers have to essentially cross their fingers that no

by asxd 6y ago

Agreed, the amount of validation work that goes into these projects must be amazing, and even then the engineers have to essentially cross their fingers that no issues were missed. I think I’m spoiled in my job in that our software can at least be rolled back if we detect an issue after the fact (also much lower stakes).

pm90 6y ago
Keep in mind that a lot of investments are made in ensuring that these things don't fail. Not saying its not a great achievement. But it helps to remember that for most software shops, reliability improvements are often treated as 2nd class compared with new feature development, which reflect the reality that most software shops don't really need quite that perfect amount of reliability.
- asxd 6y ago
  This is a good point, which I think was reflected by in nickpeterson's comment as well. There's still a bit of a culture of "move fast and break things" in my line of software engineering that I don't think ever existed in space travel. (or at least hope not)
steve_adams_86 6y ago
Absolutely spoiled. My team does a lot of testing in production. We can find real world faults quickly and easily, roll back, and save ourselves time and effort by failing in production intentionally. It’s about as easy as it gets, haha.
- bigiain 6y ago
  Tesla and Boeing appear to do the same...
nickpeterson 6y ago
I have a theory that difference isn’t just quality level of the engineers, but the shared interest and stakes. Most things we attribute to engineering incompetence are really just carelessness because the stakes don’t appear high.
- asxd 6y ago
  It's probably comparing apples to oranges. There are very talented software engineers and very talented non-software engineers. Regardless of the field, I think it's worth mentioning how extraordinary it is to take on an engineering feat that comes with so much risk. And while this isn't the case with the Curiosity rover, in my head I suppose I was thinking more of missions where human lives are at stake. I'm just a bit in awe at the courage and confidence someone must have to write code or design something and be comfortable that it will keep another human safe.

by asxd 6y ago

pm90 6y ago

Keep in mind that a lot of investments are made in ensuring that these things don't fail. Not saying its not a great achievement. But it helps to remember that for most software shops, reliability improvements are often treated as 2nd class compared with new feature development, which reflect the reality that most software shops don't really need quite that perfect amount of reliability.

asxd 6y ago
This is a good point, which I think was reflected by in nickpeterson's comment as well. There's still a bit of a culture of "move fast and break things" in my line of software engineering that I don't think ever existed in space travel. (or at least hope not)

steve_adams_86 6y ago

Absolutely spoiled. My team does a lot of testing in production. We can find real world faults quickly and easily, roll back, and save ourselves time and effort by failing in production intentionally. It’s about as easy as it gets, haha.

bigiain 6y ago
Tesla and Boeing appear to do the same...

nickpeterson 6y ago

I have a theory that difference isn’t just quality level of the engineers, but the shared interest and stakes. Most things we attribute to engineering incompetence are really just carelessness because the stakes don’t appear high.

asxd 6y ago
It's probably comparing apples to oranges. There are very talented software engineers and very talented non-software engineers. Regardless of the field, I think it's worth mentioning how extraordinary it is to take on an engineering feat that comes with so much risk. And while this isn't the case with the Curiosity rover, in my head I suppose I was thinking more of missions where human lives are at stake. I'm just a bit in awe at the courage and confidence someone must have to write code or design something and be comfortable that it will keep another human safe.