Donn Cave wrote: > I've wondered if programmers might differ a lot in how much they > dread errors, or how they react to different kinds of errors. > For example, do you feel a pang of remorse when your program > dies with a traceback - I mean, what a horrible way to die? > Do you resent the compiler's reprimands about your code errors, > or nagging about warnings? Maybe the language implementation's > job has as much to do with working around our feelings as anything > else.
That's worth thinking about. I've worked in big mainframe shops, where an operating system crash caused everything to suddenly freeze, red lights came on all over the building, and a klaxon sounded. I've worked for aerospace companies, where one speaks of "defects", not "bugs", and there are people around whose job involves getting in high performance aircraft and flying with the software written there. I've worked with car-sized robot vehicles, ones big enough to injure people. This gives one a stronger feeling about wanting to eliminate software defects early. John Nagle -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list