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What can programmers learn from pilots?
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Andrew Godwin
April 10, 2015
Programming
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What can programmers learn from pilots?
A talk I gave at PyCon US 2015
Andrew Godwin
April 10, 2015
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Transcript
Andrew Godwin @andrewgodwin Programmers LEARN FROM WHAT CAN Pilots?
Andrew Godwin Hi, I'm Author of 1.7 Django & South
migrations Senior Software Engineer at Really likes cheese FAA & EASA PPL, working on IR
flickr.com/photos/russss/16735398019/
Learning about aviation Applying lessons to coding 1 2
Commercial flying is very safe AIRLINES GA 0.2 11.2 CARS/TRUCKS
0.53 MOTORCYCLES 15.6 Source: 2005 Nall report, 2004 NHTSA stats, 1991-2000 FAA stats, 40mph avg. road speed (fatal accidents per million hours) General aviation is still not bad
Pilot Source: 2005 Nall report Mechanical Other 76% 16% 9%
GA ACCIDENT CAUSES
COMMON CAUSES Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) Disorientation in clouds
(VFR in IMC) Bad decision making (get-there-itis)
WHY DO I KNOW THIS? Detailed investigation of every accident
HOW DOES IT HELP US? Let's look at common problems
Soft Failure Explicit disengage signals Covering inaccurate instruments Replacing parts
at first sign of issues
Soft Failure Crash hard on any serious error Redundancy, not
single system reliability Freedom to get rid of servers whenever
Noisy Warnings Limited number of warning sounds Clear, unambiguous text
& speech No constant low-level warnings
Noisy Warnings Don't email/notify on every tiny error Choose 5
top errors, solve them first If you ignore it for a week, delete the warning
Poor Testing Every part tested to destruction Well known statistical
limits Knowing when, not if, things fail
Image: © Boeing 2010
Poor Testing Test latency, memory issues, dodgy network and other
unusual things Interactions are as important as individual units
Automation Reliance Tested without autopilot/instruments Plane usually advises, rarely controls
Easy to see what's happening and why
flickr.com/photos/wkharmon/4631001766
Automation Reliance Don't rely on magical automatic failover Regularly practice
manual recovery steps Know what your systems are doing
People Reliance Checklists for everything Warnings built around common assumptions
Reduce workload at critical times
None
People Reliance Checklists for releases/testing/onboarding Automate common tasks Reduce workload
at critical times
Bad Priorities Aviate, Navigate, Communicate Minimum Equipment Lists Mayday priority
Minimum Equipment Quiz Passenger video screens Lavatory ashtrays Air conditioning
Fuel recepticle caps Seatbelt signs Weather radar
Minimum Equipment Quiz Passenger video screens Lavatory ashtrays Air conditioning
Fuel recepticle caps Seatbelt signs Weather radar
Margaret Hamilton
Bad Priorities What are your critical features? What can you
do without? Know what you want to fix first and test most
Unclear Responsibility Single person always in command Others are always
listened to Clear, concise communication
Unclear Responsibility Single person makes key decisions Others are always
listened to Clear specifications and expectations
Blame Culture There is never a single cause of an
accident Individual problems identified and addressed Blaming someone solves nothing
Blame Culture There is never a single cause of a
problem Work back and find all of the bad factors Blaming people makes things worse
Deadlines Always carry extra fuel Always have an alternate Land
safely rather than at the destination
Deadlines Don't schedule everyone at maximum Always expect unknown problems
Ship good code rather than to a deadline
Takeaways
Checklists First step before automation
Filter unimportant errors Keep ignoring it? It's not important.
Pick your key features Don't worry about breaking minor stuff
Reward good decisions It's often not the people staying late
Ops are like pilots Boredom punctuated by moments of terror
Thanks. Andrew Godwin @andrewgodwin eventbrite.com/jobs