Originally Posted by
CogSim
My naive (non software literate) attempt at defining the SE concept of abstraction. Nothing more. But lets face it, even if he/she needed to, what chance has a pilot got at understanding what goes on software wise on one of these a/c?
Let's be honest here, what percentage of pilots in the steam-gauge era knew - and I mean really *knew* - exactly how the mechanical and pneumatic systems were translating the data? What the tolerances and ratios were, what every possible failure mode looked like, the whole shebang.
Unlike understanding the abstraction at work in guages that you describe, which helps me be a better airman (in case of, say, pitot blockage), understanding the voting logic of various computers does nothing for my airmanship.
This is just an opinion mind, but I'd say it probably does in this day and age. Airmanship is about knowing your craft and having a healthy amount of aeronautical knowledge to back it up. Arguably these days it also includes the art of delegation if you're in a senior position, and how to be the best member of the crew you can be regardless. Understanding the systems to the best of your ability fulfils the very first thing I mentioned.
As far as Software Engineering goes, what is involved is no different than any other type of engineering discipline, it's just that you're dealing with instructions on a microprocessor rather than building a bridge, designing an airfoil or designing a circuit.
Going back to the first point, I'd say that it is no different understanding that the air sensor output goes through a transducer and is converted to a digital value than it is knowing that the air sensor output drives a needle round a gauge via mechanical means. It's not the most in-depth knowledge, but it's enough.