Interaction between systems and software engineering in safety-critical systems

There are three areas of concern: when is software to be considered safe; what, exactly, is the role of the software engineer; and how do systems, or sometimes applications, engineers and software engineers interact with each other. The author presents his perspective on these questions which he feels differ from those of many in the field. He argues for a clear definition of safety in the software arena, so the engineer knows what he is engineering toward. Software must be viewed as part of the entire system, since it does not function on its own, or isolation. He argues for the establishment of clear specifications in this area