Mission-Critical Code: What NASA’s Power of Ten Can Teach Us

Ever wonder how NASA writes software that literally can’t afford to fail? Meanwhile, back on Earth, our code is held together with duct tape and //TODO comments. The stakes might be a little lower for most of us—nobody's oxygen supply depends on our latest API deployment (hopefully)—but reliability, maintainability, and simplicity still matter. Enter NASA’s Power of Ten rules: a set of software engineering principles designed to minimize complexity and maximize reliability. In this talk, we’ll explore these ten commandments of mission-critical coding, from banning recursion (gasp!) to keeping functions tiny and predictable. Along the way, we’ll discuss how these rules apply beyond space exploration—to web apps, enterprise systems, and anywhere else software keeps the lights on. Whether you're launching rockets or just trying to keep production from crashing at 2 AM, these lessons can help you write code that’s more robust, maintainable, and maybe even astronaut-approved. So strap in, and join us for a journey through the Power of Ten—no space suit required!