Writing and testing code for the Space Shuttle.

June 22, 2004 · 1 min read

Thanks to Gunnar Kudrjavets, a software tester at Microsoft, for a link to a great article named They Write the Right Stuff from Fast Company. The article is a great look at how the software for the Space Shuttle's computers is written and tested and the environment in which the On-board Shuttle Group works.

The points this group makes:

1. The product is only as good as the plan for the product.

- Plan out what needs to be done, document it and then begin to code.

2. The best teamwork is a healthy rivalry.

- Testers and developers try to outdo each other to find bugs, resulting in a better relationship and product.

3. The database is the software base.

- Detail all of the bugs found and understand how they got into the code in the first place. A bit of a “know your enemy“ mentality.

4. Don't just fix the mistakes -- fix whatever permitted the mistake in the first place.

- Once you understand how things went wrong, fix the process to ensure it does not happen again.

A very good read for any coder or tester.

This article is part of the GWB Archives. Original Author: Peter Stathakos

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