What can programmers learn from pilots?

A talk I gave at PyCon US 2015

1. Andrew Godwin @andrewgodwin Programmers LEARN FROM WHAT CAN Pilots?
2. 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
3. flickr.com/photos/russss/16735398019/
4. Learning about aviation Applying lessons to coding 1 2
5. 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
6. Pilot Source: 2005 Nall report Mechanical Other 76% 16% 9% GA ACCIDENT CAUSES
7. COMMON CAUSES Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) Disorientation in clouds (VFR in IMC) Bad decision making (get-there-itis)
8. WHY DO I KNOW THIS? Detailed investigation of every accident
9. HOW DOES IT HELP US? Let's look at common problems
10. Soft Failure Explicit disengage signals Covering inaccurate instruments Replacing parts at first sign of issues
11. Soft Failure Crash hard on any serious error Redundancy, not single system reliability Freedom to get rid of servers whenever
12. Noisy Warnings Limited number of warning sounds Clear, unambiguous text & speech No constant low-level warnings
13. 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
14. Poor Testing Every part tested to destruction Well known statistical limits Knowing when, not if, things fail
15. Image: © Boeing 2010
16. Poor Testing Test latency, memory issues, dodgy network and other unusual things Interactions are as important as individual units
17. Automation Reliance Tested without autopilot/instruments Plane usually advises, rarely controls Easy to see what's happening and why
18. flickr.com/photos/wkharmon/4631001766
19. Automation Reliance Don't rely on magical automatic failover Regularly practice manual recovery steps Know what your systems are doing
20. People Reliance Checklists for everything Warnings built around common assumptions Reduce workload at critical times
22. People Reliance Checklists for releases/testing/onboarding Automate common tasks Reduce workload at critical times
23. Bad Priorities Aviate, Navigate, Communicate Minimum Equipment Lists Mayday priority
24. Minimum Equipment Quiz Passenger video screens Lavatory ashtrays Air conditioning Fuel recepticle caps Seatbelt signs Weather radar
25. Minimum Equipment Quiz Passenger video screens Lavatory ashtrays Air conditioning Fuel recepticle caps Seatbelt signs Weather radar
26. Margaret Hamilton
27. Bad Priorities What are your critical features? What can you do without? Know what you want to fix first and test most
28. Unclear Responsibility Single person always in command Others are always listened to Clear, concise communication
29. Unclear Responsibility Single person makes key decisions Others are always listened to Clear specifications and expectations
30. Blame Culture There is never a single cause of an accident Individual problems identified and addressed Blaming someone solves nothing
31. 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
32. Deadlines Always carry extra fuel Always have an alternate Land safely rather than at the destination
33. Deadlines Don't schedule everyone at maximum Always expect unknown problems Ship good code rather than to a deadline
34. Takeaways
35. Checklists First step before automation
36. Filter unimportant errors Keep ignoring it? It's not important.
37. Pick your key features Don't worry about breaking minor stuff
38. Reward good decisions It's often not the people staying late
39. Ops are like pilots Boredom punctuated by moments of terror
40. Thanks. Andrew Godwin @andrewgodwin eventbrite.com/jobs