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Why are there bugs?
One thing I wish I knew at the start of my career in software quality
I was asked this question at a podcast recording once (I’m still wondering when the podcast will get published). The answer I gave was this (and yes it’s true, I didn’t make this up cos of that podcast) — You can’t fix quality just by catching bugs just like you can’t fix crime just by locking criminals away. In fact, I wrote a Medium article with that same title (see [1]).
You can’t fix quality just by catching bugs just like you can’t fix crime just by locking criminals away
You see, I grew up and spent most of my life (studied, went to college, dated, got married) in Singapore. Singapore is one of the safest cities in the world. We didn’t get there by just law enforcement. We are very strict, no doubt (see [2]) but as any parent knows, you need a carrot and stick approach to children. So what are the root causes of crime? Homelessness, hopelessness, drugs, little or no opportunities for advancement. It’s beyond the scope of this article but the government of Singapore does a pretty good job addressing those issues.
