There was a TV program "On Trial: Proof or Truth". Could software be developed the

J

Jojo207

New member
way such a case is run? (Prosecution and defence present their cases and a jury decides). Could it work as a model of a method for developing software ? Doesn't ALL the code have to be correct ? So such a method could never work to develop software that would work well, or work at all. Yet aren't many projects run exactly like a sequence of legal trials ?
So, for Westgate bridge, a "jury" decided to pull out some bolts (and the bridge fell down).
For the 2 space shuttle disasters, "juries" decided to order wrong changes in order to "comply with standards", resulting in defective workmanship.
Was Collins submarine software developed by such a method ?
 
In a way, that is exactly how software is developed. the jury consists of the users, and the users determine whether the software resolves the problem or not - the problem being reports or information. It's not that all the code needs to be correct, but that it gives the right "answers" - what the users (jury) determine they need from the system.

Often, the "trial by jury" comes before the system is actually designed or coded. I know that as project manager/systems designer, I used to spend days or weeks with the users, getting their feedback on what they really wanted from the system, and presenting it to them in a way that they could make a decision about the various parts, It resulted in a high number of successful projects, done on-time and under-budget.

Mind you, with the way some software comes out, I have my doubts about whether users (people who actually willl use the systems) are actually involved in the process - including what I've garnered about the collins submarine software.
 
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