The Story Works!

Computer magazine editors complain about software quality and the increase in the number of bugs. You r article "How to Build Reliable Code" (December) offers an excellent way to combat this problem. Small vendors will profit by producing more reliable code -- less time on technical support, more time to thoroughly test new features -- and more reliable code allows them to compete with large software houses. Your comments on features and documentation are right on target!

John A. Jackson
President & CEO
LWE Research, Inc.
73353.121@compuserve.com

Recent problems with the nation's air-traffic control system have been hardware problems and cannot be attributed to software, as you would have your readers believe. I am working with a dedicated team to replace the IBM 9020e subsystem you cite with a modern processor retaining as much of the original software as possible. That this is a legacy system should indicate that the software on it, no matter how old, is extremely reliable. Claiming our collision-avoidance algorithms are unreliable is another examp le of ignorance, since our Conflict Alert software runs on a fast, modern CPU. While some of our software may have had its start in the 1970s, we have continually upgraded and improved its capability using methods that ensure quality. We cannot and will not make changes to the system just because it's fashionable or because the current software is "old." Would you want us to switch platforms right now and run the air-traffic control system on Windows 95?

Mark Kelsey
Kelsey Software Consulting
Northfield, NJ
MARKelsey@aol.com

The age and shortcomings of the 9020e computers and other hardware used in the air-traffic control system are well documented. We never said "collision-avoidance algorithms are unreliable." Rather, we discussed outdated hardware and last summer's failures in our story about software reliability because the complexity of developing and testing a new generation of software is one of the reasons hardware upgrades have been delay ed. We used the air-traffic control example, and many others, to show how widespread is our reliance on software that controls critical systems. -- Alan Joch, senior editor