[plt-scheme] A crazy idea (fMUMPS)

From: Matthias Felleisen (matthias at ccs.neu.edu)
Date: Thu Dec 29 10:54:56 EST 2005

On Dec 28, 2005, at 6:02 PM, Greg Woodhouse wrote:

> Yes, and that's the rub. My area of specialization is VistA
> infrastucture, not applications. True, I am now working as part of an
> application team, but for years I worked only on the Kernel. So...When
> I think of projects that seem, well, interesting, they don't tend to be
> applications! More to the point, though, VistA isn't a spreadsheet, web
> server, or even an operating system -- something that could be designed
> top to bottom by computer science types -- it's an integrated medical
> information system, so designing and developing applications requires
> medical, as well as technical, expertise. My education is in
> mathematics, and I've worked for the past 13 or so years in software
> development, but I am not a physician.

In that case, you have to find two things:

  1. Something people need but doesn't exist and
     appears to consume too many resources given
     the existing infrastructure.

  2. A physician/med person who's willing to work
     with you on a test basis.

That's how Motorolla started using Chez Scheme for its catalog.

-- Matthias



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