Comment by rebootthesystem | Hacker News Reader

Comment by rebootthesystem | Hacker News Reader

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rebootthesystem

> BTW, even physical machines have undefined behavior, when values exceed the specs and there's no telling what might happen

And if you (plural) are an ENGINEER, it is your JOB to KNOW these things and prevent them from happening.

I get the sense that the term "software engineer" has been extended so far that we grant it to absolute hacks who know nothing about what they are doing and what their responsibilities might be. Blaming a language, compiler and machine are perfect examples of this.

True engineering isn't about HOPING things will work. It is about KNOWING things will work. And testing to ensure success.

I've been involved in aerospace for quite some time. People can die. This isn't a game. And it requires real engineering not "oh, shit!" engineering that finds problems by pure chance. Sadly, though, we are not perfect and things do happen. It isn't for lack of trying though.

> I've been involved in aerospace for quite some time.

That's nice; not all engineering is aerospace and not all aerospace processes are always appropriate everywhere else.

Even in aerospace, still I don't want to write code that depends on knowing exactly how the compiler works. I will write code mostly to the language spec. Then treat the compiler as a black box: obtain the object code, and verify that it implements the source code (whose own correctness is separately validated).

Safety is not treated the same way regardless of project. For instance, an electronic device that has a maximum potential difference of 12V inside the chassis is not designed the same way, from a safety point of view, as one that deals with 1200V.

rebootthesystem seems to be a chatbot that specializes in shouting cliches and non sequiturs. His responses to me indicate a complete failure to understand what I wrote. smh

Nice try at a weak ad hominem.

Your parent comment is utterly irrelevant. The conversation is about the C language and the perception some seem to have that it has problems. My only argument here is that a capable software engineer knows the language and tools he or she uses and has no such problems, particularly with a language as simple as C. Things like pointer "surprises" are 100% pilot error, not a deficiency of the language itself.

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