Rating:
(2 reviews)
Author: Les Hatton
ISBN : 0077076400
New from $25.38
Format: PDF
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This book is aimed at C developers in safety-related or high-integrity environments.
Direct download links available for Free Safer C (McGraw-Hill International Series in Software Engineering) [Paperback]
- Series: McGraw-Hill International Series in Software Engineering
- Paperback: 228 pages
- Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies (1995)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0077076400
- ISBN-13: 978-0077076405
- Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 9.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
Free Safer C
Well when first introduced to this book the title evoked some interest in me, my development background being in C/C++. And though my first impressions remained hopeful, it soon became clear that this book has a very defined audience indeed.I must admit I find much of what Les Hatton says about the C language and its application in high integrity very interesting but perhaps its relevancy today isn't what it once was. Don't get me wrong, there is some good information in this book and you may even have an epiphany about the C language while you read it. But Les's lack of lucidity makes the book very dry to read, and unless you are an avid fan of standards and rigid processes or can find some humor in what he says, you might find getting through any of the chapters somewhat of a challenge.
Moreover the reader is constantly and implicitly reminded while reading this book of the author's staunch support for the C language. And though this takes many different forms throughout the book, it became clear to me at least, that here may be a case where someone has gone through a great deal of work in the defense of a programming language instead of propounding the use of a more appropriate one. That is not to say there may not be situations where the C language is necessary in mission critical or high integrity software; I just don't think the author has given ample justification in these cases for considering other more strongly typed languages than C for them.
However, there are some sections and chapters of the book that are worth some note. I found the following of interest because of it potential applicability to what all software engineers need to be aware of, particularly in Tivoli.
Chapter 2.
This book was recommended to me by a collegue. Looking at the title, I don't think I would have picked it up myself. My interests tend towards the practical. But this was a surprising delight to read. Hatton is sharp, well-informed and very funny. And I was surprised at how similar the challenges that Hatton addresses are to the ones faced by the development groups I've worked with.Hatton's primary motivation is to defend C as a language for use in safety critical systems. And that's an argument that I don't have much interest in. But he defends it by identifying unreliable features and usages of C and showing how these can be automatically detected and avoided. This is the interesting part. His analysis is deep and entertaining. He obviously has spent many many hours reading draft standards and commentary. The task has nearly turned his brain to jelly. Yet he pressed on and has identified and categorized long lists of issues that the standards leave open to interpretation.
The second basis for his argument are empirical studies he has made of occurances of faults in software. These are also very interesting. He also has made studies correllating complexity metrics to these fault metrics and thereby comes to well-defined complexity criteria. But having defined some metrics, he also has good ideas about how to make use of them.
Hatton doesn't have much faith in process standards (such as the CMM, or ISO 9000). He feels that if you have to have rules, they need to have automated enforcement mechanisms. Indeed, one of the purposes of this book is to plug tools that do just this that he has developed. But he also describes competing and complementing tools with fairness.
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