I came across this a while back
It is a court document from one of the UK post office horizon IT system scandal.
It has a very detailed review of the system and its history dumbed down to the level a lawyer could (maybe) understand.
It stands out because it is quite hard to find examples of this level of detail about such a large scale distributed system which aren't internet / web tech companies.
Just browsed through it and was surprised at the great explanation of RDBMS' provided.
Excerpt:
21. The main use of a relational database is securely to store large volumes of structured information. The way it does so can be understood as having large numbers (tens, hundreds or even more) of different spreadsheets (which are called tables) and which are linked to one another. Two different tables in a database are linked to one another (in a 'relation') when they both have one or more columns with the same meaning and share values in those columns.
I think this is also a important lesson on how to write simple, direct and succinct documentation; no unnecessary fancy "methodologies/processes" required (i am now a fan of Dr. Worden :-).
Well worth reading in entirety.
PS: Any other overviews of "less sexy" software systems that you can share (eg. Banking, Insurance, Railway Systems etc.)? I am of the opinion that these are the real success stories of the Software Industry. They are battle tested and proven over time.
It stands out because it is quite hard to find examples of this level of detail about such a large scale distributed system which aren't internet / web tech companies.
https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/bates-v-...