Post by @RuthMalan@mastodon.social

Ruth — of systems & em dashes

@RuthMalan@mastodon.social · 1 hour ago

ResearchGate emailed me to say I was quoted in a chapter in a book. May 2026.

Turns out it was a characterization of “functional requirements” from a white paper in 2001.

Now wondering if something I wrote in 2026 will eventually be quoted in 2050.

And make me squirm.

3 media

Page with a green mark at “Functional requirements”… Text from the page:

Requirements can be classified into several categories [33]:

Functional Requirements specify what a system must do, defining its behavior
in response to specific inputs, events, or conditions [23]. E.g.,: “The system
shall authenticate users before granting access.”

Requirements protect systems from accidental harm by preventing
hazardous behaviors, detecting safety violations, and ensuring appropriate
responses to unsafe conditions. E.g.,;: “An autonomous vehicle shall never
exceed the posted speed limit” [24].

Performance Requirements define measurable criteria for system quality
attributes including speed, throughput, reliability, accuracy, and resource uti-
lization [7]. E.g.: “The system shall process transactions within 2s.”

These categories represent common requirement types, though many others
exist (e.g., security, usability, maintainability requirements). — Page with a green mark at “Functional requirements”… Text from the page: Requirements can be classified into several categories [33]: Functional Requirements specify what a system must do, defining its behavior in response to specific inputs, events, or conditions [23]. E.g.,: “The system shall authenticate users before granting access.” Requirements protect systems from accidental harm by preventing hazardous behaviors, detecting safety violations, and ensuring appropriate responses to unsafe conditions. E.g.,;: “An autonomous vehicle shall never exceed the posted speed limit” [24]. Performance Requirements define measurable criteria for system quality attributes including speed, throughput, reliability, accuracy, and resource uti- lization [7]. E.g.: “The system shall process transactions within 2s.” These categories represent common requirement types, though many others exist (e.g., security, usability, maintainability requirements).

citations page

[23] Functional Requirements and Use Cases (by R Malan and D Bredemeyer, 2001) — citations page [23] Functional Requirements and Use Cases (by R Malan and D Bredemeyer, 2001)

Ruth — of systems & em dashes

@RuthMalan@mastodon.social · 1 hour ago

I’m still waiting for someone to match my foolishness, and quote (me on ADRs):

“Decisions are central, and it is a great
template, but you can just hear the
captain in the cockpit yelling "pull up,
pull up" — we'll run into a veritable
forest of decision trees if we speed too
far too fast down that runway just now.
Which decisions?”

(from https://www.ruthmalan.com/systems/2025SystemDesignOverview.pdf )

lol.

Lesson: friends don’t let friends write stuff, or something like that :)

Home Login