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This obviously reduces line count, but probably does not equivalently reduce bug count, as the removed lines are very unlikely to contain bugs. While I agree t
by nkurz 9y ago
This obviously reduces line count, but probably does not equivalently reduce bug count, as the removed lines are very unlikely to contain bugs.
While I agree that the bugs are not likely to be in the trivial code, I don't think it's a given that presence of the trivial code has no impact on the number of bugs elsewhere. Consider a "fatigue" based model, where the human brain is distracted by the monotony of the bug-free getters and setters and thus unable to pay sufficient attention to the logic bugs elsewhere in the program. And again, I'm not making that claim that eliminating boilerplate reduces bugs, only objecting to the assumption that it does not.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- dllthomas 9y agoMy intent was to clarify (what I perceived to be) the parent's argument, more than make one of my own. I think if our process is "1) write the software in Java, 2) remove those lines", it's clear that we've probably changed the average bug density of the project. I agree that there is much reason for concern in generalizing that result to what would have happened if we'd written in that other language to begin with.