Python for air traffic control?

[Grant Edwards]

On Wed, 4 Jul 2001 08:25:50 +1000, Peter Milliken <peter.milliken at gtech.com> wrote:

>This assumes that your coding standing inforces passing
>arguments by name - just try staffing an ATC project and
>enforcing a coding standard. There will be many programmers who
>"don't like the standard" and will do anything to get around
>it. You generally catch these people through code review only
>and often too late! :-). Python doesn't enforce this,

[without looking at the source code] I think it would probably
be farily trivial to hack Python to require all arguements be
passed by keyword.

>personally I believe it is a good feature and I use it
>frequently - but not all of the time :-)
>
>> In C++, the function calls all get checked automatically at
>> compile time, but Python doesn't check them until run time.
>> That is a valid concern, but hardly a show-stopper. I
>> understand that PyChecker can be used for static checking. I
>> actually think the core Python language should have an option
>> to do static checking, but as long as some product is
>> available to do it, the issue is not major.
>
>PyChecker is still very imature and some things it will never
>(poor word to use, since if someone wants to put in the effort,
>nothing is impossible :-)) be checked by it. It will only ever
>be an aid. The ability of Python to dynamically "change its
>behaviour on the fly" is one of its strengths but also a
>weakness from the point of view of ensuring correctness and
>reliability in such an application domain.

On a project as large as an ATC program there will probably be
(or at least _should_ be) some support staff whose job is
nothing other than specify/acquire/develop/tweak/test
development tools.

-- 
Grant Edwards                   grante             Yow!  I wish I was a
                                  at               sex-starved manicurist
                               visi.com            found dead in the Bronx!!