Re: Everything

The shift from 3GL (imperative) languages to 4GL (declarative
languages) is probably the most significant long-term shift trend. The
immediate pressure is to automate builds, testing and deployment to
control costs and improve quality.

But testability seems to be more of a design issue. I can't take an
untestable design and use it to construct a testable system. I think
this will reach a crisis once software companies and developers start
getting sued for product failures. I wonder if it is already
happening?

Maintainability also seems to be more of a design issue. Nobody gets
sued---they just tear their hair out trying to adapt a piece of code
that was never designed to be adapted. Again, construction cannot do
much to alter the (lack of ) intention in the design.

I won't even mention performance or portability :-)

I don't have much faith in model-driven-development. But if what you
are saying is true---and I believe it is---then the real challenge is
not in the coding, debugging, builds or deployment. The real challenge
is in the design arena. Design must account for testability,
maintainability, performance, portability... ----as well as doing
whatever it is supposed to do properly. The list keeps growing. My
brain is going to explode if I don't drop dead from a heart attack
first.

I find models useful for honing my understanding of a system. I don't
find that they help me actually come up with a practical design, let
along construct it. There are too many things that are unknown, vague
or changing. I rely too much on past experiences. I think that agile
software development is a more promising approach---at least in the
short run.

Perhaps software development will soon look some kinds of
manufacturing----a semi-automated design phase followed by a fully-
automated production phase. In the meantime, I'm putting my money on
tight-knit groups of highly-competent software developers using agile
practices.

I have printed your posting and I am going to study it. Thank you Dr.
Lahman. I have learned a lot. You have helped steer many of my
wanderings in a common direction.

Gerard Vignes

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Book-able view of ID as speculative science
    ... I suggest it belongs in textbooks because good textbooks ... test *yet* does not rule out the potential of testability." ... What does ID have to say about the "somehow" by which acts of Design ... observed source of complex devices" assertion, ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: singleton vs static
    ... >>representation continuously digit by digit. ... But testability of each other component does not ensure ... how low that firewall might lie. ... > design, and that you verified it very thoroughly. ...
    (comp.object)
  • Re: Math In D.I. Land
    ... Plausibility is a byproduct of testability, ... positive detection of design. ... If you know of any such evidence, feel free to share it with us. ... question is really about the methodology of design detection, ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Good Book for DFT
    ... Can any one suggest a good DFT (Design For Testability) for ASIC's ... book for a practicing engineer like me. ...
    (sci.electronics.misc)
  • Re: Sutters Pimples: Good, Bad, or Ugly?
    ... testing of badly designed code is an amusing concept, ... able to design meaningful tests. ... overall design leads to better testability. ... Claudio Puviani ...
    (comp.lang.cpp)