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ye gods, can we come up with a "law" to describe appealing to the halting problem? Just because there are unanswered questions that doesn't mean we can't have
by bobnamob 2y ago
ye gods, can we come up with a "law" to describe appealing to the halting problem?
Just because there are unanswered questions that doesn't mean we can't have bare minimum codified standards.
Furthermore, standards aren't invalidated just because practitioners disagree with them. Plenty of <insert engineer type>s disagree with the standards body of their respective field, they still follow the standards out of fear of prosecution or simply as a path of least resistance and when those standards are found to be defective, they (generally) evolve.
- nottorp 2y ago> we can't have bare minimum codified standards So, functional, imperative or OOP? :) > Just because there are unanswered questions The halting problem is undecidable. Not undecided. I.e. it has been solved and the answer is "you can't".
- int_19h 2y agoWe don't need to solve the halting problem. We just need to come up with a sensible set of practices that, if followed, make the risks small enough to be considered acceptable. Then we can point at that list and say, "this is what the reasonable expectation of due diligence in software engineering is" - and legally enforce that.
- gorft 2y agoThis is the most pedantic sort of semantic navel-gazing that can only originate in the bowels of an HN thread. Bravissimo, truly.
- nottorp 2y agoYep, now answer me the part about functional, imperative or oop, and come up with a plan to convince everyone.