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Reading 2: Software aspects of strategic defense systems
This assignment is due on Tuesday, February 25 at 11:59pm.
Exercise 1.
Watch the video below.
Exercise 2.
Read the first 5 pages of the article “Software aspects of strategic defense systems” by Parnas, up to the heading “The limits of software engineering methods”. Focus on why Parnas says software is hard to build, and why he says some software is impossible to build.
As you read the various reasons given in the article, ask yourself: What software are people trying to build today that is hard or impossible to build for the same reasons?
In class, we will quiz you on the article, and discuss it.
Extra fun. Watch Parnas’s presentation and rebuttal at the debate sponsored by Computing Professionals for Social Responsibility at MIT in 1985.