bugs

[Rob Cozens]

  Dan, et al:

> I'm reminded of this quotation from the 1970's. (I think it was in the
> Mythical Man Month but I'm not sure.)
>
> "If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then 
> the
> first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization."
>

Must have been a spokesman for the building trades industry.    :{`)

There is no house of any size or complexity that is "bug" free.

After first visiting my parents' new $80K home--which in the 1970s was 
a lot of $--my wife and I remarked to each other how shoddy the 
workmanship was.  Some plumbing fixtures were plumbed hot water to cold 
faucet, ill-fitting cabinetry, sloppy painting, etc.

Realistically, there is no human activity that is "bug-free", because 
there is no human being who is "bug-free."  I learned this first hand 
while supervising the work of the data coding section of Oakland Police 
Department.

The job of the coding section was to review all crime and arrest report 
documents and add codes for computer input.  For example, each report 
received a weapons code (o=none, 1=gun, 2=knife, etc.) derived from the 
details in the report.  Simple job: read the report, determine the 
weapon code, and write the code in the appropriate box on the form.  
How could anyone screw this up?  Or so I thought until one of the 
coders was on leave and I filled in for her.  After reviewing my own 
work I realized that humans simply cannot repeat the same task hundreds 
of times in a row and maintain attention and quality of work--we are 
not computers.

Bug-free software is certainly a goal worth striving for--but it's 
unrealistic and unproductive to "wear a hair shirt" because one finds 
bugs in commercial software.  IMFO, it's the severity of the bug and 
the software provider's commitment to address bugs that matters.

Rob Cozens
CCW, Serendipity Software Company

"And I, which was two fooles, do so grow three;
Who are a little wise, the best fooles bee."

from "The Triple Foole" by John Donne (1572-1631)