Intuitive Bug-less Software?

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Posted by michael on Friday February 13, 2004 @07:19AM from the dream-on dept.

Starlover writes "In the latest java.sun.com feature at Sun's Java site, Victoria Livschitz takes on some ideas of Jaron Lanier on how to make software less buggy. She makes a couple of interesting points. First, making software more 'intuitive' for developers will reduce bugs. Second, software should more closely simulate the real world, so we should be expanding the pure object-oriented paradigm to allow for a richer set of basic abstractions -- like processes and conditions. The simple division of structures into hierarchies and collections in software too simple for our needs according to Livschitz. She offers a set of ideas explaining how to get 'there' from here. Comments?"

13 of 558 comments (clear)

Well... by bobbinFrapples · 2004-02-13 07:25 · Score: 5, Funny

First, making software more 'intuitive' for developers will reduce bugs

Feels right.
1. Re:Well... by cybermace5 · 2004-02-13 08:30 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I once had a teacher whose recurring theme, loudly stated in every applicable situation plus several more, was that "INTUITION SUCKS!!!"
  
  I never did get around to asking him how he knew that, or if it was kind of a gut feeling he had.
  
  --
  ...
2. Re:Well... by dubious9 · 2004-02-13 09:24 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Perhaps he was refering to the adage that the only intuitive interface is the nipple. Nipple=intuition. What does one do on nipple? Suck. Therefore intuition sucks. Or maybe he was a boob man.
  
  --
  Why, o why must the sky fall when I've learned to fly?
Comments? by jayhawk88 · 2004-02-13 07:26 · Score: 4, Funny

I'd say that with buzz-speak like that, she's going to make some CIO very happy someday.
Not my problem anymore. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-02-13 07:27 · Score: 5, Funny

This type of stuff is not a problem for me to worry about anymore. It's India's. Direct me to the nearest auto-mechanic school please. It's time to learn how to fix problems that can put money in my pocket.
The real world is intuitive? by richmaine · 2004-02-13 07:36 · Score: 5, Funny

So she wants to make software more intuitive and wants to make it more like the real world.

Perhaps she should make up her mind. :-)
Re:Three-choice system of logic by telstar · 2004-02-13 07:37 · Score: 4, Funny
"All that would be required is to select the desired output answer, then map it back to the input state. Bingo! We've now got the right question to ask."
- Who knew Alex Trebek read Slashdot?
Re:I'm sure... by Xenographic · 2004-02-13 07:39 · Score: 4, Funny

The real world has software bugs!?

You been experiencing a few too many glitches in the Matrix lately, or something? ;]
Speaking of mistakes... by pokeyburro · 2004-02-13 07:40 · Score: 5, Funny

...it also seemed like she misstated Java's approach as a "sandbag architecture" as opposed to a "sandbox architecture". I keep trying to visualize programmers writing more and more Java code to stave off the inevitable surge of bugs....

--
Lately democracy seems to be based on the skybox, the Happy Meal box, the X-box, and the idiot box.
...and the wheel turns by GSVNoFixedAbode · 2004-02-13 07:43 · Score: 5, Funny

"and more closely simulate and resemble the real world". Hey, I know! How about a COmmon Business-Oriented Language? We could call it COBOL perhaps.

--
"I am Heisenborg. You will probably be assimilated"
Re:I'd rather have... by pompousjerk · 2004-02-13 07:47 · Score: 4, Funny
Heh heh, yeah, right.

Right now I am in a Computer Science program. I have had the pleasure to see:
- Students brag about their 400+ line recursive routine that they finally got working
- Students that hate Linux/BSD/Solaris because "you have to use the command line"
- Students exclaim, "It compiles!", as if it was a significant milestone in the development of the program (which, to them, I guess it is)
- Students get confused when '.' is not in their $PATH
- Professors taking advantage of having '.' in their $PATH
- Students that love Visual Basic because you can "just drag and drop!"
I don't think the whole proper education thing is going to happen any time soon.
Re:I found it to be interesting by ajs · 2004-02-13 07:56 · Score: 4, Funny

Lots of shameless plugs, yes, but look at what's being advocated:

* More intuitive
* More inclusive
* Pattern recognition vs. "yes/no" type logic

Ah... ok, let's turn those 90 degrees:

* More context-aware
* There's more than one way to do it
* Logic using higher order comparison such as regular expressions and grammars

Hmmm... Perl anyone? ;-)

Perl is universally panned by people who don't use it for being "opaque", and yet that opacity is the result of all three of the above, and CPAN is a monumental testiment to the value of those features in terms of large-scale software engineering.

If your opinion of dollar-signs is so valuable to you that you can't see the value in 4GB of source code sitting at your fingertips, then I direct you to the nearest Java tutorial....
Re:I'd rather have... by Jeremi · 2004-02-13 08:19 · Score: 5, Funny
Don't forget
- Slightly more experienced CS students acting condescending and superior to the newbies, because their own newbie days are 18 months behind them.
--

I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.