On sustaining self

Abstract

There are three approaches, I think, to sustaining the health of running systems: designed perfection, instinctual adaptation, and learning. For small programsand for increasingly large programs over time-designed perfection is a viable approach. Such software has been proved (rigorously) or rationally has come to be believed to be impervious to variations in its environment, which is itself assumed reliable using some mechanism. Software with designed perfection is typically the most efficient, because it does not waste resources on adaptation or learning. Experience has shown there is very little such software, but hopes remain high and research is active and fruitful. © 2008 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.