HW:7 Reflections

Better than Goldfish, but Not by Much

The four articles: The Magical Number 7, Tire Pressure Monitoring System, Spy Car Act of 2015, and Test-Driven Development were interrelated in an interesting way. At first, I had a difficult time understanding where The Magical Number 7 fit in this group but after a short time, I realized how the research on attention spans and memory in the article was related to Test-Driven Development. Essentially, The Magical Number 7 is explaining research done in the 1950s that gave some insights into the short term memory and attention spans in average humans were relatively stable across a wide range of people. The key takeaway, and how this relates to TDD, is that human beings have short attention spans and as our knowledge about the subject lessens our ability to recall information decreases precipitously and because of this TDD is an ideal tool to work with that limitation. TDD works by limiting the amount of new information the developer needs to intake and recall by adding small changes or updates to code and then performing tests to ensure operability. The key is that the process is done as the program is being developed, not after the fact, so each small segment of code is tested as the development process occurs. This creates a more focused environment and allows us, humans, to focus on small parts of a larger process without having to juggle huge amounts of new information.

TDD & Safety

The Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) study and the Spy Car Act of 2015 focus on vehicles and the software that they use. The TPMS study highlighted several ways in which the software was poorly designed. First, the data transmitted by the TPMS was not encrypted in any way and therefore was easily manipulated via spoofing or simply overwhelming the receiver. Second, the data the TPMS transmitted included a unique ID that theoretically allowed for the vehicle to be tracked. Finally, the software did not use validation techniques to ensure the data being processed was even feasible, to begin with. It seems that had the software development process been more thorough, perhaps relying on TDD techniques, some of these basic issues would have been identified and easily resolved. The Spy Car Act of 2015 seems almost as a response to the poor design of the TPMS system highlighted in the study. It sets forth basic specifications, requirements, and penalties that car manufacturers must comply with. By putting forth this guidance it provides the most minimal framework for which the TDD process can be utilized to ensure compliance, and more importantly, safer, more secure transportation.