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“We could, for instance, begin with cleaning up our language by no longer calling a bug a bug but by calling it an error. It is much more honest because it squa
by medler 3y ago
“We could, for instance, begin with cleaning up our language by no longer calling a bug a bug but by calling it an error. It is much more honest because it squarely puts the blame where it belongs, viz. with the programmer who made the error. The animistic metaphor of the bug that maliciously sneaked in while the programmer was not looking is intellectually dishonest as it disguises that the error is the programmer's own creation. The nice thing of this simple change of vocabulary is that it has such a profound effect: while, before, a program with only one bug used to be "almost correct", afterwards a program with an error is just "wrong" (because in error).”
- Edsger Dijkstra, EWD 1036
- jacquesm 3y agoAn error has by now become something else, I like the 'defect' term a lot better.
- unmole 3y agoChinese companies typically say defect instead of bug. Naturally, the bug tracker is called the Defect Tracking System. I think the impact of linguistic choices is vastly overstated.
- soultrees 3y agoOn the contrary I think the impact of linguistic choices is everything. Even subtle changes can have huge downward effects.
- unmole 3y ago"That's just like, your opinion, man" Everything? Really? Not to be flippant but I've heard a lot of people say something similar but I am yet to see a single convincing example.