[312] in Humor
6.170
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (jdhinter@MIT.EDU)
Wed Jun 8 22:13:09 1994
To: humor@MIT.EDU
Cc: grisha@MIT.EDU, dimon@MIT.EDU, sniemczy@MIT.EDU, nygren@MIT.EDU,
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 94 22:08:24
From: jdhinter@MIT.EDU
I think I understand why people complain about 6.170...
From: cate3@netcom.com (Henry Cate)
Message-Id: <199405261334.GAA29337@netcom.com>
To: JQuixotic.dl@netcom.com
Subject: Life 2.D
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The following paragraph appeared in the Course Notes for [MIT course]
6.170 (Undergraduate Software Engineering course -- taken
usually as a sophomore) under the section heading "Defensive
Programming":
The word "bug" is in many ways misleading. Bugs do not
crawl unbidden into our programs. We put them there.
DON'T THINK OF YOUR PROGRAM AS "HAVING BUGS;" THINK OF
YOURSELF AS HAVING MADE A MISTAKE. Bugs do not breed in
programs. If there are many bugs in a program, it is
because the programmer has made many mistakes. You
should never be proud when you track down a bug in your
own program. It's like finding a cockroach in your
kitchen. You should be embarrassed and upset that it was
there in the first place.
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