4 ms·
No. A civil engineer's response would (should?) be immediately that the client cannot build the bridge for that cost, simply because it will kill someone as a f
by kayo_20211030 3y ago
No. A civil engineer's response would (should?) be immediately that the client cannot build the bridge for that cost, simply because it will kill someone as a first order effect. That's the ethical consideration. The downsides of janky rendering or poor memory management aren't quite the same unless you actually add up the power wastage and apply it as an impact on global warming. But, those are not a first order effect, and although they should be, they don't have the same influence on the solution.
- AnimalMuppet 3y agoThere's plenty of software that can kill someone as a first-order effect. If you allow second-order, there's even more. Avionics. Air traffic control. Industrial control. Automotive software. 911 dispatch. Medical instruments. Medical information. Military command and control. Mechanical engineering analysis software. Lots of software can kill people.
- kayo_20211030 3y agoThat's not what I'm saying. If a web page takes 2s to render rather than a theoretical minimum of "immediately", for most software that most people write, no one will die, or be hurt, or even feel too bad as a first-order effect. Obviously, if one is writing flight control software, or somesuch, then the stakes are higher, and one ought to be aware of that. That's the practicality calculation. If you're going to kill/hurt/really upset someone, then what you're doing is not fit for purpose (unless that is the purpose :) )
- supriyo-biswas 3y agoFWIW, the embedded domain usually has a little more focus on efficiency and correctness compared to enterprise software.