Hardware Podcasts

316: Obviously Wasn't Obvious

Embedded.fm · 10 Jan 2020 · 50m · Episode 316

What this episode covers

Professor Barbara Liskov of MIT discusses her pioneering work in computer science, including the invention of data abstraction and the Liskov Substitution Principle, as well as her contributions to distributed systems like viewstamp replication. She explains how the 'software crisis' of the 1970s, characterized by massive project failures due to a lack of modularity, drove the development of these concepts. Liskov also reflects on the evolution of programming languages from CLU to Java, the Turing Award, and current concerns regarding AI ethics and misinformation.

Most relevant to

established companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
MIT
Also
CLU, Java, Smalltalk, Paxos

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Oxide and Friends · 54m

    Software Engineering Past, Present, and Future with Grady Booch

    Grady Booch, software engineering pioneer and co-founder of Rational Software, joins Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal to trace the history and future of software engineering. Booch details the evolution from the 'software crisis' of the 1970s and the creation of UML to the current 'third golden age' driven by distributed systems and LLMs. He argues that while LLMs are powerful tools for increasing abstraction, they are architecturally incapable of abductive reasoning and require experienced engineers to guide them, emphasizing that fundamentals like coupling, cohesion, and judgment remain essential.

    Embedded firmwareAI & machine learning
    7 chapters

  • Oxide and Friends · 1h 26m

    The Showstopper Show

    Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal of Oxide Computer Company host a discussion with G. Pascal Zachary, author of 'Showstopper!', and Jessamyn West, daughter of Data General engineer Tom West, about the human cost of building Windows NT and the Eclipse minicomputer. Zachary and West analyze how the 'cult of the hotshot programmer' and the lack of modern software engineering practices led to severe personal anguish and family breakdowns for the teams at Microsoft and Data General. The conversation contrasts the 1990s 'battleship' development model with today's open-source, service-oriented software landscape, highlighting the shift from software as a static artifact to a continuous, often stressful, service.

    Careers & educationAI & machine learning
    8 chapters

  • Oxide and Friends · 1h 00m

    Innovation Stagnation?

    Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal, co-founders of Oxide Computer Company, along with guest Steve Klabnik, critique a tweet by Nate Silver claiming innovation has stagnated by contrasting the 1900s with the 2000s. They argue that while 'groundbreaking' inventions like the Haber process and CRISPR are vital, modern innovation is often hidden in complex infrastructure like extreme UV lithography at TSMC or distributed systems consensus algorithms like Raft. The hosts emphasize that abstraction layers make it difficult for non-practitioners to appreciate the depth of current technological progress, citing Rust's safety features and horizontal scaling as critical, albeit less visible, breakthroughs.

    AI & machine learningChips, FPGAs & semiconductors
    8 chapters

  • Oxide and Friends · 1h 24m

    RIP USENIX ATC

    Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal of Oxide Computer Company, joined by Tom Lyon, discuss the discontinuation of the USENIX Annual Technical Conference (ATC) and its historical shift from a practitioner-focused event to an academic one. They recount their experiences at USENIX 2004, including presenting DTrace, meeting Dennis Ritchie, and the conference's low acceptance rate, while critiquing the modern academic publishing model. The conversation highlights the disconnect between academic research and practical systems engineering, citing examples like the failure of simulated data structures and flawed RAID implementations to illustrate the importance of real-world implementation details.

    Careers & educationIntellectual property
    10 chapters

  • Oxide and Friends · 1h 17m

    No Silver Bullets

    Bryan Cantrill and Steve Klabnik discuss Fred Brooks' essay 'No Silver Bullet,' arguing that while technologies like Rust, Rails, and open source collaboration eliminate accidental complexity, they cannot remove the essential complexity of software problems. They analyze Brooks' distinction between essential and accidental complexity, noting that tools like Rust force developers to confront the latter, while platforms like S3 and the Internet enable massive productivity gains through better collaboration rather than magic bullets. The conversation also covers Brooks' skepticism regarding AI and graphical programming, concluding that no single technology offers a 10x or 100x improvement because the core difficulty of defining what to build remains unchanged.

    AI & machine learningDebugging & failure analysis
    10 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Embedded.fm. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.