[emsy]

No, they did what good engineers do: They analyzed the problem and found a feasible and robust solution. Following rules without thinking is not what good programmers do. I’d argue that most problems of modern software development stem from this mindset, even when it’s a rule that should be applied 99% of the time.

[harryf]

All good until years later, a new team builds, unaware of the leak, same system into a longer range missile...

[emsy]

Right, but that doesn’t invalidate the previous decisions made at that time. And it’s not only a problem in software. Accidents can happen because engineers trade material strength to reduce weight only to find out that over a number of generations they slowly crept above the safety margin that was decide upon 10 years ago, resulting in catastrophic failure. I’m sorry I don’t have the actual story at hand right now, but it’s not unimaginable either way. The problem you described has more to do with proper passing of knowledge and understanding of existing systems rather than strictly adhering to a fixed set of best practices.