2 ms·

Would you apply the same criteria to code instead of file formats? As in "my customer has given me this code for architecture X and I need it working on archite

Would you apply the same criteria to code instead of file formats? As in "my customer has given me this code for architecture X and I need it working on architecture Y"? For those who answer "yes" to the above I'd encourage them to read the story of the Therac-25 [1], a machine where hardware mechanisms in model A where replaced by software mechanisms in model B leading to a race condition that would dose patients with massive doses of radiation. > Yes, there'll be mistakes. "Over the following weeks the patient experienced paralysis of the left arm, nausea, vomiting, and ended up being hospitalized for radiation-induced myelitis of the spinal cord. His legs, mid-diaphragm and vocal cords ended up paralyzed. He also had recurrent herpes simplex skin infections. He died five months after the overdose." [1] "But your honor, I specifically wrote 'add unit tests for important functionality'!" [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25

smugma 2y ago
The story of the Therac25 is an important one. I first read it in college and re-read it every 5-10 years. That said, I don’t think it’s a strong rebuttal to the arguments here. Context matters. Earlier poster mentioned they’d use it for a React front end but not a backend deletion. Knowing the tool and the appropriateness of the tool in context is one of the lessons to be learned from the Therac 25 tragedy.
CHY872 2y ago
'Please translate this AVX-256 algorithm to Arm NEON' is absolutely a prompt I'd give ChatGPT, and similar prompts have revealed new and useful intrinsics. Of course, results to be checked. Assurance is a complex topic, and any safety critical device should have a carefully thought through architecture and rigorous testing program which minimises the risk of incidents. It therefore seems scarcely relevant here, beyond the fact that a well defined delivery system should be able to handle multiple human errors during implementation without leading to crucial failure modes occuring.

smugma 2y ago

The story of the Therac25 is an important one. I first read it in college and re-read it every 5-10 years. That said, I don’t think it’s a strong rebuttal to the arguments here. Context matters. Earlier poster mentioned they’d use it for a React front end but not a backend deletion. Knowing the tool and the appropriateness of the tool in context is one of the lessons to be learned from the Therac 25 tragedy.

CHY872 2y ago

'Please translate this AVX-256 algorithm to Arm NEON' is absolutely a prompt I'd give ChatGPT, and similar prompts have revealed new and useful intrinsics. Of course, results to be checked. Assurance is a complex topic, and any safety critical device should have a carefully thought through architecture and rigorous testing program which minimises the risk of incidents. It therefore seems scarcely relevant here, beyond the fact that a well defined delivery system should be able to handle multiple human errors during implementation without leading to crucial failure modes occuring.