My CS 404 Thoughts

The trial case concerning the "Gimli Glider" raised some questions and ideas that I haven't thought about much. I have two years of school left, and then graduate school (I hope), but what then? What will I do when I'm in the industry and have the responsibility to design and develop a software system? Will I design only to the bare specifications I am given to reduce time to market, or will I try to envision the intent and purpose of the specifications? Chris Critical, the designer/developer at Honeywell who designed and wrote the software responsible for controlling and monitoring the fuel in the Boeing 767, obviously didn't think too far ahead or plan for contingencies when designing his software. The fact that the system actually went into service tells me that he was a good programmer, and that his code passed the quality assurance testing, but my opinion is that he could have done more. I would think that the "what if?" questions such as "What will my software do if the front-line processor fails?" are questions that cannot go unasked in development of any system, let alone a system on which thousands of lives will depend. This is a question that the design and testing teams at
Honeywell apparently didn't ask, since when the main processor died the system did not switch to the backup processor. Because of this very issue, my greatest desire when thinking about where I would like to work is that I would like to find a company where doing things right is the first priority. I would like to work in a place where if I overlook something as critical as was overlooked in the Gimli incident, someone else is likely to catch it, and where a thorough design process--with contingencies taken into account--is encouraged. Hopefully I will find that there are companies in the industry where this is the case.

For those who are not in my class and are wondering what all this is about, you can read about it here or here.

I've been thinking a lot in the last few months about the whole idea of the "digital age" and what that means about the amount of information available to me today as opposed to my ancestors 200 years ago. I haven't always been what anyone would call a computer nerd. In high school I wrestled, ran track, and set school weight-lifting records. In my spare time I shot guns. Almost everything I know about computers is self taught, with the majority of that knowledge coming in the last 3 years. With so much information available, it isn't surprising that there are a great many people who abuse it, exploit it, or are so overwhelmed by it that they stay as far away from it as the can. However, what we do with this information is entirely up to us. Ten years ago I couldn't care less that you could learn almost anything about anything on the Internet. Now hardly a day goes by that I don't turn to Google, various mailing lists, Wikipedia, and other information sources online to solve a problem or learn something that I didn't know but wanted to. So despite the large scale misuse of the incredible amount of information available, I say that it's a "Good Thing" we have it.

Today we watched the final installment of "Triumph of the Nerds." A few
things caught my mind as I learned some things about the history of the
graphical OS that I didn't know. When the Macintosh computer was introduced, a
graphical user interface was what most people wanted and needed, even if they
didn't know it. IBM was raking in the cash by selling its clunky PC, which was
what it had convinced business and personal users they needed. I had an Apple
IIgs at the time, and I remember how much easier it was to use when we got a
hard drive with the Mac OS. Computers are much easier to use today than the
were 15 years ago, but I am amazed by the number of irritating behaviors we put
up with in our computers because "that's the way they are." Then I realized
that Windows is exactly what IBM was back in the days of the PC and DOS: the
product that we have to have, despite its clunkiness. In stark contrast to
this, my brand new MacBook is incredibly easy to use. It does what I want and
stays out of my way. It's no wonder Steve Jobs said, "I always hear about how
people love their Macs..." because I sure do.

The more I learn about computers and programming, the more I think about
what I want to do with this knowledge. With just three semesters to go, I
have learned more than I thought possible and can only imagine what more I can
learn in my remaining time. But what I want to do with it all is still
somewhat of a mystery. I would like to go on and get at least a Master's
Degree, and possibly a Ph.D. The Master's is a somewhat selfish desire, as I
believe it will greatly improve my ability to provide for my family, but the Ph.
D is another matter entirely. I would love to someday teach, and give
something of worth back to the community that has helped me learn. In contrast
with my desire to give something back, this "splogging" escapade we read about
today appears to me to be a selfish and intellectually lazy endeavor. As a
recipient of a BYU Master's Degree, this individual is not giving anything of
worth to the community. In fact, in his quest to capitalize on this
"opportunity" he has become a parasite, making money by harming the community
that allows him to do so. I remember from last week the creator of VisiCalc
who is now a teacher, but is comfortable with his motives to make something of
worth to the computing community, and not just make a pile of money. I only
hope that when I am finished with school I will remember that I want to
contribute more than I want to get rich.