You might be correct today but that’s a pretty sad state of affairs, don’t you think we can do better? Most other engineering domains can deliver projects without bugs, with various definitions of “bug” of course
I'm not sure about that. Which engineering domain do you have in mind?
Maybe show-stopping bugs are somewhat unique to software engineering, but all somewhat-complex products are flawed to some extent imho.
It might be an unergonomic handle on a frying pan, furniture that visibly warps under the slightest load (looking at ikea shelfing) or the lettering coming off the frequently used buttons on a coffee machine.
But there do exist shelves that don’t warp, when used within some reasonable bounds.
I’d also quibble about the buttons on the coffee machine. They might be properly designed, just subject to the normal wear-and-tear that is inevitable in the real world. This is not a defect, physical devices have finite lifespans.
As far as computers go… if we got to the point where the main thing that killed our programs was the hard drives falling apart and capacitors drying out, that would be quite impressive and I think everyone would be a little bit less critical of the field.
To be an engineer is to know the expected system requirements and build a product that is extremely optimized for the system requirements.
There's a saying that I think fits very well here: "Any idiot can build a bridge that stands, but it takes an engineer to build a bridge that barely stands."
You don't want a bridge to cost 50 years and quadrillions of dollars to build, you want a cheap bridge safe for the next 50 years done in 2 years.
I would not call the resulting bridge "bug free", of course.
We can certainly do better, but it takes a _lot_ of time, effort, care and discipline; something most teams don't have, and most projects can't afford.
Bugs arise from the inherent complexity introduced by writing code, and our inability to foresee all the logical paths a machine can take. If we're disciplined, we write more code to test the scenarios we can think of, which is an extremely arduous process, that even with the most thorough testing practices (e.g. SQLite) still can't produce failproof software. This is partly because, while we can control our own software to a certain degree, we have no control over the inputs it receives and all of its combinations, nor over the environment it runs in, which is also built by other humans, and has its own set of bugs. The fact modern computing works at all is nothing short of remarkable.
But I'm optimistic about AI doing much better. Not the general pattern matching models we use today, though these are still helpful with chore tasks, as a reference tool, and will continue to improve in ways that help us write less bugs, with less effort. But eventually, AI will be able to evaluate all possible branches of execution, and arrive at the solution with the least probability of failing. Once it also controls the environment the software runs in and its inputs, it will be able to modify all of these variables to produce the desired outcome. There won't be a large demand for human-written software once this happens. We might even ban software by humans from being used in critical environments, just like we'll ban humans from driving cars on public roads. We'll probably find the lower quality and bugs amusing and charming, so there will be some demand for this type of software, but it will be written by hobbyists and enjoyed by a niche audience.
KeplerBoy|2 years ago
Maybe show-stopping bugs are somewhat unique to software engineering, but all somewhat-complex products are flawed to some extent imho.
It might be an unergonomic handle on a frying pan, furniture that visibly warps under the slightest load (looking at ikea shelfing) or the lettering coming off the frequently used buttons on a coffee machine.
bee_rider|2 years ago
I’d also quibble about the buttons on the coffee machine. They might be properly designed, just subject to the normal wear-and-tear that is inevitable in the real world. This is not a defect, physical devices have finite lifespans.
As far as computers go… if we got to the point where the main thing that killed our programs was the hard drives falling apart and capacitors drying out, that would be quite impressive and I think everyone would be a little bit less critical of the field.
ponector|2 years ago
New bridges collapses, dams overflow s, planes crashes, vaccines kills, food kills, leaning towers and skyscrapers, capsized ships - catastrophic flaws are everywhere.
ElectricalUnion|2 years ago
There's a saying that I think fits very well here: "Any idiot can build a bridge that stands, but it takes an engineer to build a bridge that barely stands."
You don't want a bridge to cost 50 years and quadrillions of dollars to build, you want a cheap bridge safe for the next 50 years done in 2 years.
I would not call the resulting bridge "bug free", of course.
imiric|2 years ago
Bugs arise from the inherent complexity introduced by writing code, and our inability to foresee all the logical paths a machine can take. If we're disciplined, we write more code to test the scenarios we can think of, which is an extremely arduous process, that even with the most thorough testing practices (e.g. SQLite) still can't produce failproof software. This is partly because, while we can control our own software to a certain degree, we have no control over the inputs it receives and all of its combinations, nor over the environment it runs in, which is also built by other humans, and has its own set of bugs. The fact modern computing works at all is nothing short of remarkable.
But I'm optimistic about AI doing much better. Not the general pattern matching models we use today, though these are still helpful with chore tasks, as a reference tool, and will continue to improve in ways that help us write less bugs, with less effort. But eventually, AI will be able to evaluate all possible branches of execution, and arrive at the solution with the least probability of failing. Once it also controls the environment the software runs in and its inputs, it will be able to modify all of these variables to produce the desired outcome. There won't be a large demand for human-written software once this happens. We might even ban software by humans from being used in critical environments, just like we'll ban humans from driving cars on public roads. We'll probably find the lower quality and bugs amusing and charming, so there will be some demand for this type of software, but it will be written by hobbyists and enjoyed by a niche audience.
unknown|2 years ago
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unknown|2 years ago
[deleted]
sanderjd|2 years ago