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Software doesn't just appear on the shelves by magic.
That program shrink-wrapped inside the box along with the
indecipherable manual and 12-paragraph disclaimer notice actually
came to you by way of an elaborate path, through the most rigid
quality control on the planet. Here, shared for the first time with
the general public, are the inside details of the program
development cycle.
1 Programmer produces code he believes is bug-free.
2 Product is tested. 20 bugs are found.
3 Programmer fixes 10 of the bugs and explains to the testing
department that the other 10 aren't really bugs.
4 Testing department finds that five of the fixes didn't work and
discovers 15 new bugs.
5 See 3.
6 See 4.
7 See 5.
8 See 6.
9 See 7.
10 See 8.
11 Due to marketing pressure and an extremely premature product
announcement based on an overly optimistic programming schedule, the
product is released.
12 Users find 137 new bugs.
13 Original programmer, having cashed his royalty check, is nowhere
to be found.
14 Newly-assembled programming team fixes almost all of the 137
bugs, but introduce 456 new ones.
15 Original programmer sends underpaid testing department a postcard
from Fiji. Entire testing department quits.
16 Company is bought in a hostile takeover by competitor using
profits from their latest release, which had 783 bugs.
17 New CEO is brought in by board of directors. He hires programmer
to redo program from scratch.
18 Programmer produces code he believes is bug-free.
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