[SystemSafety] "Unpredictable Code"

[Peter Bernard Ladkin]

On 2018-08-30 07:31 , Peter Bernard Ladkin wrote:
> An article in The Guardian newspaper today about "unpredictable code". I haven't read it yet.
> 
> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/aug/29/coding-algorithms-frankenalgos-program-danger

The article is worth reading but there is not much new. The author talked to Spaf, Toby Walsh and
Lucy Suchman. And someone called Lilly Irani at UCSD in Communication and Science Studies. I am
guessing she might well be related to Sandy Irani at UCI.

One tidbit that stood out:
" A new programming language called TLA+ allows for mathematical proof that a software system
contains no bugs, but this requires programmers with advanced math skills."

1. TLA+ is not a programming language. It is a specification language for algorithms (in the
traditional meaning of this word).

2. It does not allow for mathematical proof that a software system contains no bugs, because there
is no such thing. It does allow for mathematical proof that a given algorithm satisfies its
specification.

3. It can be argued that it requires users with "advanced mathematical skills" but there is no
requirement that these users be programmers. They could be mathematicians.

PBL

Prof. Peter Bernard Ladkin, Bielefeld, Germany
MoreInCommon
Je suis Charlie
Tel+msg +49 (0)521 880 7319  www.rvs-bi.de





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