Re: Software Vendors

[email@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (James W Kilgore)]

Jim,

It's been a while back, on this thread, where someone mentioned that one
could test all possible conditions, under a given set of circumstances,
and all looks cool, but install at another site and "bugs" start to show
up.  We've even had an application running "bug free" (as advertised)
for years, until someone new is hired.   Go figure.

Now I know that you would not call them bugs, because your product has
an "advertised" function and environment.  Possibly even a documented,
conditional, "how-to".

Jim, pls don't get me wrong, I applaud your belief in zero tolerance.  I
felt the very same way, for the first million lines of code I wrote. ;-)

I remember, when the Earth's crust was still cooling, I wrote a bug free
program.  Since then I've written a few thousand programs and, I admit,
have not batted 1000.

Let's not split hairs here.  I think that the majority of this list make
concerted efforts to produce a quality product, not only as advertised,
but with a best guess of other conditions we learn about on this list.

I have gotten the feeling that most of the participants on this list do
not write "a" program, but hundreds if not thousands of
interrelated/dependant programs.  And if a user places a blank record
into a file via DFU/DBU and your program croaks, yes, YOU have a bug
because you did NOT test all possible conditions.

I must admit that I've enjoyed, with the perverse sense of humor that I
have, watching this thread change from a claim of bug free code, to bug
free conditional code. ;-}

So long as a company of the caliber of IBM puts out PTF's, I'm not going
to beat myself up, or my staff, for missing a dotted i or crossed t.

If I recall, it was your employer that introduced the "bug" to your
program.  My first incarnation in the midrange world was with such a
partner.  That's why we split 23 years ago.

From what I've read, it sounds like you've done well and are true to
your beliefs.  Can we revisit this topic in 10 years to see if you have
a change of position?



> Jim Langston wrote:
> 
> > If a program always works and doesn't produce erroneous
> > data, that is by definition bug free.  It works as advertised.
>
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