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From: G.Joly@cs.ucl.ac.uk (Gordon Joly)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Reusability considered harmful??(!!)
Message-ID: <1401@ucl-cs.uucp>
Date: 31 Jan 91 19:18:58 GMT
Sender: news@cs.ucl.ac.uk
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> What do you think of this notion?

At a recent Colloquium I suggested the idea that if software
engineering is to be considered an *engineering* discipline, rather
than a science, the notion of tolerance should be developed.

This arose from thinking about the interchangablity of parts from a
modern production line, and is not original. If you buy a new spark
plug or a tyre, then it has to fit in place, within a certain margin
of error - tolerance. Cylinders fit into an engine block with a
certain gap, within a certain range of error. And so on.

Can the tolerance idea get off the starting blocks?

Gordon Joly                                       +44 71 387 7050 ext 3716
Internet: G.Joly@cs.ucl.ac.uk          UUCP: ...!{uunet,ukc}!ucl-cs!G.Joly
Computer Science, University College London, Gower Street, LONDON WC1E 6BT

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