10
Safety
Giles: Well, for god’s sake, be careful. . . . If you should be hurt or killed, shall take it amiss.Willow: Well, we try not to get killed. That’s part of our whole mission statement: Don’t get killed.Giles: Good.
—Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 3, episode “Anne”
“Don’t kill anyone” should be a part of every software architect’s mission statement.
The thought that software could kill people or cause injury or damage used to belong solidly in the realm of computers-run-amok science fiction; think of HAL politely declining to open the pod bay doors in the now-aged but still-classic movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, leaving Dave stranded in space.
Sadly, it didn’t stay there. As software has come to control more and more of the devices in ...
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