[Discuss] Software Engineering redux

[richard.pieri at gmail.com (Richard Pieri)]

On Jan 23, 2012, at 6:13 PM, Tom Metro wrote:
> 
> That's not to say there wouldn't be value to a separate certification
> for "life-critical software engineering" for those working in fields
> where that is applicable.

This is a hidden slippery slope.  Is the FreeBSD kernel a "life-critical application"?  Is the FreeBSD kernel inside an iPhone a life-critical application?  What if that iPhone is an on-call surgeon's primary point of contact with the ER?  Applications that we don't see as critical can end up in critical roles that we don't foresee.  We cannot reliably predict how customers are going to use the things that software designers and programmers make.  If we cannot do this then how can we make distinctions as you suggest?

--Rich P.