> and even that aside, can you cite studies that show that the choice of > programming > language is the dominant term in determining the error rate of the resulting > code?
Come on, Erik, are you suggesting that because there are no studies, the situation could not exist? It is only my opinion, but I miss the ability to design and build arbitrary adapters for the most common desktop platform(s) available with my limited skills, something I could do and did in the early 1980s. The growth in complexity in that platform has created a much higher entry bar that I certainly can't surmount any more. The associated growth in complexity in programming paradigms goes hand in hand with the more powerful, but less accessible platforms and the occurrence of bugs has almost certainly grown with both. For one of those bugs to creep into a decision making computer and cause real harm is not to be excluded. Sorry if the relevance isn't obvious, I'm always fearful of boring the reader :-) ++L