Re: Software's evil

larwe wrote:
On Mar 27, 6:42 am, Lanarcam <lanarc...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

I think it is simpler than that. As designs become more complex,
you inevitably get more of late delivery, bugs and misinterpreted specs.
This applies equally well to software and hardware.
is complex, you can decompose it into manageable units
with well specified interfaces. This requires time and
rigour and is not compatible with tight schedules and

Volumes and volumes have been written on this. But in general consider
that the tools available for software verification are not as mature
as, and CONSIDERABLY more labor-intensive than the tools available for
hardware verification. Further consider that the cost to be invested
up front in verifying something "hard" (silicon, spacecraft, etc) vs.
verifying something "soft" (can be field-updated for free) are very
different value propositions.

This is certainly an oft spoken subject, but the fact is that, imho,
the state of software development has not really improved
over the years, it is probably worse now than it was a few years
ago due to more complexity, tighter schedules, etc. The software
crisis is still with us. The fact that programmable hardware goes
the same way can be an opportunity to discover new causes even if
solutions are far ahead.

There is also the fact that hardware engineers who knew how to do
it right the first time, now meet, with programmable components,
the same sort of problems as do software developers. They could
certainly understand what has changed in their process.

Consider also that a company designing a microcontroller is designing
a general-purpose device that must be precisely characterized in order
to be saleable. Would you buy a micro if the data*** said that every
parameter was TBD? A product that uses the microcontroller, on the
other hand, is going to have a limited range of use and will not, as a
rule, be as completely characterized - in fact it's unlikely to have
any characterization data at all outside the intended use cases.

This can indeed be a problem if the product is later used
for other applications as are reusable components.
The point is how to produce really reusable components fully
characterized and free of side effects. Another point is to
decide when to invest to produce reusable components.

.