Assignment

Read We Did Nothing Wrong: Why Software Quality Matters by Deborah Gage and John McCormick. This paper details a number of software systems that failed in spectacular ways, with most of the focus on a radiation machine made by Multidata called the Cobalt-60.

As you read, think about the following:

• What fault(s) contributed to the failure of the Multidata machine?
• Are there quality-control procedures might have made a difference?

Before you come to this recitation, write up (on paper) a brief answer to the following (really—we don't need more than a sentence or so for each question):

• What was the Cobalt-60?
• How did it fail?
• Why did it fail?

(There are multiple possible answers to each of these questions.)