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Old 18th Mar 2014, 08:32
  #5545 (permalink)  
msjh
 
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Quote:
1995 era code on an aircraft is perfectly hackable; quite easy in fact.
I am not sure how you reached this conclusion but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact substantial analytical work went into the n-version (voting) Ada development, including Z/VDM specifications and absolutely strict and correct interfaces (this was for the 744 and I am sure has been enhanced and developed since).

I spent time working with the 744 FADEC Software so I do know at least a little about what I talk about (as well as having time on the 737 Classic).

To criticize code in the sense of vintage is a complete misnomer. Software tools in the mid 80's were starting to get very serious in terms of system provability and verification, and the Ada compilers were excellent in picking up all sorts of nasty things (static and dynamic). All the development teams were isolated and all produced seriously good provable engineering.

Yes, time has moved on since those early days, but essentially most of the work stands intact as well it should.

Rogue data insertion into the architecture would be completely non-trivial.
I completely agree with the points you make about the quality of the code. It is difficult to have a debate in an open forum for obvious reasons. However, I stand by my claim.
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