Keynote: It Depends..
summary
Argument: it depends — expertise shows rules are context‑dependent, not absolute. Uses Dreyfus stages and pattern thinking to compare concrete examples: string buffer vs immutable string (lock‑based vs lock‑free thread safety), C gets/strlen and “undefined behavior” as a spec artifact, Mars mission timing (three probes) as a context win, and an Amazon pricing feedback loop that spikes a book to ~$24M before removal. Advocates unit tests and timeouts as practical fixes — 75% reproducible by unit test.
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chapters (18)
- 0:00Start
- 10:59This code sucks.
- 13:15Don't Repeat Yourself
- 16:18directives
- 19:07conflicting forces
- 19:18solution
- 19:28consequences
- 20:50There's no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.
- 23:25bottleneck
- 23:50synchronized
- 25:00There's no such thing as thread-unsafe code, only unsuitable threading.
- 27:20static
- 39:06Simple Testing Can Prevent Most Critical Failures An Analysis of Production Failures in Distributed Data-Intensive Systems
- 39:43A majority of the production failures (77%) can be reproduced by a unit test.
- 44:13Al is characterized by output that isn't strictly dependent on the input or on the algorithm: the output of an Al system depends critically on a training process, in which the program learns how to perform its task. Training differentiates Al from traditional software applications and data analysis.
- 52:35Digital devices tune out small errors while creating opportunities for large errors. Earl Wiener
- 54:201. lack of knowledge 2. lack of awareness
- 54:37known knowns known unknowns unknown unknowns unknowable unknowns
