Deep dive into the terms and concepts mentioned in Chapter 12

ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. It leads to the degeneration of motor neurons responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movements. As these neurons die, the brain loses the ability to initiate and control muscle movement, resulting in muscle weakness, atrophy, and eventually paralysis. The exact cause of ALS is largely unknown. There is no definitive test for ALS. Diagnosis typically involves a combination of neurological exams, electromyography (EMG), MRI scans, and ruling out other conditions. While there is no cure for ALS, treatments focus on managing symptoms and improving quality of life. Legendary scientist Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with ALS in his 20s. Although some physicians expected his life to be short, he died at the age of 76 after living for more than 50 years with ALS. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqsJTs5qnQs).

Alpha testing is software testing conducted to identify bugs and issues before a product is released to a broader audience. Internal teams usually carry it out, and it is one of the early stages of testing in the software development lifecycle. Testing is done in a controlled environment, often using the software’s internal tools or staging environments to simulate the final product. Testers provide feedback on functionality, usability, and overall experience, which is then used to make improvements before the software moves to beta testing. Multiple iterations are usual. Bugs identified in the initial round are fixed, and new tests are conducted to ensure the fixes are effective. Successful alpha testing helps ensure that the software is stable and ready for more extensive beta testing, where it is exposed to a broader, often less controlled audience. In engineering systems, Alpha testing typically occurs around Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 6 or 7, where a prototype or integrated system is ready for rigorous testing to identify and fix issues. TRL 9 is the actual system, proven through successful mission operations. At this stage, the technology is advanced enough to have demonstrated its functionality and is close to operational deployment.

Beta testing is the second phase of software testing. In this phase, the software is released to external users who can provide feedback based on their experiences. The primary outcome of beta testing is the identification of bugs and usability issues and a clearer understanding of how users interact with the software. This phase helps ensure a more polished and user-friendly final product before launching it to the broader public. Information collected during beta testing is used to prepare for the official release, ensuring the software is refined, robust, and ready for general use. Beta testing usually aligns with TRL 7, where the technology is prototyped and validated in real-world scenarios. It helps identify any last-minute issues and gathers comprehensive feedback from actual users. Beta testing supports final refinements from TRL 7 to TRL 8 and verifies that the technology meets user expectations and industry standards.

Objective Morality is the idea that specific actions are universally right or wrong, independent of individual opinions or cultural beliefs. This concept posits that moral principles exist outside human perspectives and can be widely applied like mathematical truths. Hinduism provides a rich tapestry of moral guidance that encourages individuals to act in ways that uphold harmony, duty, and ethical principles. While dharma can vary based on context (e.g., age, caste, stage of life), it is an underlying principle guiding moral actions. The belief is that adhering to one’s dharma contributes to society’s greater good and harmony. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFj2EjQ40vM)

Entropy of life touches upon the relationship between living systems and the laws of thermodynamics. Life creates complexity and organisation by harnessing energy and constantly engaging in a balance between order and disorder. This interplay provides insights into biological resilience, evolutionary processes, and philosophical considerations about existence and purpose. The struggles and efforts of life as a fight against entropy represent the constant battle to maintain order and stability. In this view, life can be perceived as creating local pockets of low entropy (high order) in an entropic universe. The existence of life challenges the idea that disorder is the ultimate fate of everything. Living purposefully and maintaining order requires immense effort and is a costly business. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cco0T7cj-B4)

Triggered a build is a software development term. It refers to initiating the compilation and packaging of code into a usable software product. This typically involves automated build systems and continuous integration/ deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. Developers usually trigger builds by committing code changes to a version control system (VCS) like Git. This is often done when changes are pushed to a specific branch (like “main” or “develop”). After a build is triggered and completed, developers can receive notifications about the build status via email, chat applications (like Slack), or the CI/CD tool’s interface. This informs them whether the build succeeded or failed.