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)
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