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.