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This lecture is part of a new annual series run by Imperial’s Outreach Office in conjunction with the Faculty of Engineering. We are grateful for the Transport Trust’s contribution to this event. Unfortunately, we frequently experience first-hand the problem of computer software going wrong: our web browsers and media players close without warning, our smartphone displays freeze, we lose our work when our office software goes wrong, and we often see computer displays with error messages when, for example, browsing in a museum, or trying to buy a train ticket. More worryingly, software failures can lead to drastic security breaches and even to loss of human life. So, what makes software go wrong, and what can be done to avoid this? During this lecture Alastair Donaldson will give, through live programming demos, some insight into what it means to be a programmer who builds a software system, and will use this insight to illustrate the pitfalls of software development that lead to software failures. I will also talk about how software developers can fight back against the sources of software failure, using testing and verification techniques.
Alastair Donaldson ( http://multicore.doc.ic.ac.uk/ ) joined Imperial College London as a Lecturer in 2011 and is now a Senior Lecturer. He enjoys teaching courses on Object-Oriented programming and Software Reliability, and in 2013 was winner of Best Teaching for Undergraduates in the Imperial College London Student Academic Choice Awards. He also researches new techniques for ensuring software reliability, and was recently awarded a five-year EPSRC Early Career Fellowship for a project entitled “Reliable Many-Core Programming”.
The Transport Trust uniquely promotes awareness and preservation of Britain’s rich transport heritage in all its forms, on land, on water and in the air. Since 1965 the Trust has been preserving Britain’s heritage through grants and loans for restoration projects, recognising individual achievement in preservation and identifying and marking sites of historical transport significance. The Trust offers membership to individuals, societies and companies. See www.transporttrust.com for more detail.