[thelist] General Statement - There's Bugs in Everything

[Helen]

> One of the "big wigs" surprised me yesterday with a comment that "There's
> bugs in everything." I took this in lieu of web development:
>
> Although I whole heartedly agree with him, I open a discussion as to ...
> why?

I think it's just because we're building complex systems with lots of
interdependant bits and it's really hard to keep every single detail you
need in your head at the same time. One of the common things I see in
different software development processes is the idea of breaking a complex
problem into pieces small enough for humans to reliably handle.

Software development is hard. There are just so many competing concerns
that you have to juggle. Your solution needs to be robust, maintainable,
bug free, on schedule, easy to use.. I'm sure other people could list six
or seven other non-functional requirements for most projects that the
customer doesn't even see unless they're not done properly. These are
things you have to constantly keep in your head on top of trying to solve
the actual problem.

That said.. I still wouldn't want to be doing anything else. If it was
easy, it probably wouldn't be half as much fun. :)

        Helen