Why software models matter

The control software for The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) was developed by a group of people that more than likely know a thing or two about software development (http://news.thomasnet.com/companystory/CERN-Chooses-Coverity-to-Ensure-Accuracy-of-Large-Hadron-Collider-Software-602630 , http://www.slac.stanford.edu/econf/C0303241/proc/papers/TUJP001.PDF, ). You typically don't let the control of a particle accelerator up to some first year students as part of their VB class. The following still clearly demonstrates that even experienced software developers need tools to analyze and verify the behavior of large, complex, systems: http://mcrl2.org/release/user_manual/showcases/CMS.html