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October, November the Worst Months For Writing Buggy Code
chicksdaddy writes "Data from application testing firm Veracode suggests that the quality of application code submitted for auditing is pretty much constant throughout the year — except for the months of October and November, when the average density of vulnerabilities in the code jumps considerably. But why? Is it the pressure of deadlines? The stress of developers' lives (kids back to school, etc.)?"
Why do they warn us in December?
Worst month for writing buggy code? What's worse about writing buggy code in those months versus writing buggy code in any other month?
You guys have kids?
Okay like so many other Slashdot readers, I only read the headline...so what month is a GOOD month in which to write buggy code?
Are there other jobs that have their job performance drop considerably during these two months?
If not, what can be used to explain this anomaly? Bogus study? Something unique to programmers?
Is it consistent throughout IT? Are there more reliability issues that can be traced to those months?
This means programmers are aware of lack of sun? Or is it the compounding effects of eating too much of that retched chocolate and other things found around the office during holidays? I know my stomach is doing somersaults right now and a package filled with more treats is winging its way to my from my family.
Deck us all with Boston Charlie .. Walla Walla was and Kalamazoo.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I've studied this stuff, it's down to STUPID programmers. Hire people that can type properly. This was everybody wins ...
The purpose of existence is to make money.
TAXES
don't you mean "Oct, Nov. best months for writing buggy code"? I would think it would be the "Oct, Nov. worst months for writing non-buggy code".
Most businesses I've seen, a list of things to do is drawn up in the beginning of the year and set as a goal. Achieving those goals goes into consideration for how one did in a year, bonus, next year's budget etc. The list is usually unrealistic due to pressure from above (or other executives whose title may be the same level as the CTO/CIO, but who are for all intents and purposes, at a higher level due to being so-called "profit centers"). The code base being built on is usually old and broken, the equipment it runs on not the best, the team so-so with a few bright people, and a lot of dumb managers. Things not counted in the schedule are long-time experienced employees getting fed up and leaving, equipment breakdowns, bugs and emergencies that have to be dealt with, or business units who change what they want all year long from the original specification. Plus other things - a third party product is bought, and is very difficult to integrate in the existing system, with more time than initially planned for. By October not many things on the year-end checklist are done and the CTO starts having meetings and banging on the table that he needs checks on the lists to show the CEO what his team has done this year. So people stop writing good, long-term code and start writing crap, so they can check off the list for the end of the year. Things slow down by the end of December, that a few things on the list won't get done becomes accepted, people go on Christmas vacation. That's why bugs go in in October/November.
Collage grads get hired in June and July and get about 3, 4 months under their belt get use to what they need to do and start getting a little sloppy.
Also there is the rush to get the project out before the end of the year.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Lol at you Mr. Second.
Couple of reasons from the office I work at - end of year deadlines means code gets rushed in Oct/Nov in order for testing and review before Christmas. Also, those of us who haven't taken all of our vacation time yet are forced to take time off, disrupting projects. Last minute client changes (to the projects due at the end of the year) add to the pile. And, the stress of the holidays plays a part as well (mostly because we're asocial geeks who are dreading the onslaught of family get-togethers and forced social situations). Usually by December, we've got our projects off for review and testing so there isn't much code being written, and the code that is being written is in response to problems and is a chance to take rushed, bad code and make it a little bit less bad. That's my little piece of anecdotal evidence.
When I read the headline, it means that those are the best months to write code as nobody likes to write crappy code.
Probably it says differently in the thing below the subject, but I am not really interested in that.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
October and November tend to be when rumours about not getting Christmas bonuses start circulating.
All you need to do is simulate the four wheels, and add a rigid body that can be approximated to a box for the main chasis. If you want to get fancy, you can use a polygonal mesh. Then you can use any old physics engine, and presto... you have a buggy.
It's writing the code for the horses that's a real bitch. There's AI and stuff, and figuring out how the horse should react emotionally to various situations... THAT'S one hell of a challenge.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Its probably the rush to make it to market for the Christmas season, "doing whatever it takes" to meet the deadline, code for "taking shortcuts" and "cutting corners". This phenomena is especially applicable to video games.
Another manifestation of the pressure to ship for Christmas is moving features from the original launch of the game to the expansion pack.
Many shops have a code freeze prior to the new year so there's a big push to get things in. SQA falters.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Hamlet (I, v, 166-167)
for writing bad code?
As the island of our knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.
From TFA:
Seriously? I don't claim to be learned in the art and science of software QA, but WTF is up with this? Apparently, a relative handful of programs are pulling the average quality way, way down. Is there no way to identify these abortions and abort them?
One of the most frustrating things to deal with as a game developer is the tendency for publishers to try very damn hard to hit a Christmas shiping target. To get through the lot check / TRC process, you pretty much have to be finishing up by September or October. That leaves November for going in and out of lotcheck and giving enough lead time to manufacture the game (if your not shipping a digital product).
For any software project that is tied to a consumer retail project, your probably going to have to hit a similar deadline. Based on that, I can see this result coming about. People are rushed to hit the deadline and the scrutiny is higher.
END COMMUNICATION
I would have expected that to be Nov + Dec not Oct + Nov
> October, November the Worst Months For Writing Buggy Code
As someone who strives for buggy code, what are the best months for producing such code?
Then there would be two bumps. One for Fall graduates and one for Spring graduates.
Taxes are due in April.
According to wikipedia: In the United States, the flu season is considered October through May
For me, this year, October and November would be buggier, as a result of missing three paychecks (i.e. inability to focus, working for free).
* It's shitty outside.
* You want to get home before it's dark, so you leave early.
* The whole office is getting sick.
* Every freaking thing is due at once.
* Half the people on your team are on vacation.
* The other half of your team hasn't had a day off since June.
* You're distracted by the holiday insanity.
* You are suffering from SAD.
* Kids school activities are peaking.
* You just gained ten pounds in one week, and you're depressed about it.
* You've switched to your winter beer choices, which are like double the ABV of your summer beers
* Etc...
HTH.
Deleted
I blame all the holiday food in the office. Starting out with the candy that appears in early October and ending with the foodfest of Thanksgiving. December is more about running around buying stuff than it is eating, so no half-stuffed sleepy coders are missing semi-colons right now.
Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
"When I told you 'thirty days hath September,' I didn't HEX!"
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
just not the developers' kids. it's the problem of developers who are kids. they get hired in may. write some prototype in 1 month and then spend 3-4 months trying to extend it just to find out that writing "just code" doesn't scale too well.
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
Should read "October, November are the *best* days for writing buggy code." They're the worst days, apparently, for writing bug-free code.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
That's around the time of the year I'm most often to get sick. When I feel like shit, I don't think/care at a normal capacity. For me, it's all about trying to stay healthy. Of course, it doesn't help when you're working with a bunch of sick coworkers..
Stop letting the Amish programme, dammit!
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
... join the companies and start to write codes?
Are there other jobs that have their job performance drop considerably during these two months?
If not, what can be used to explain this anomaly? Bogus study? Something unique to programmers?
Peanuts grow best in the months just prior so peanuts are in abundance.
You pay peanuts, you get monkeys!
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
I've studied this stuff, it's down to STUPID programmers. Hire people that can type properly. This was everybody wins ...
Easily avoided then. Stop programming in STUPID.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
It comes down to Stress. The Months October til early-mid decemer are the most stressful throughout the year when everyone wants to finish everything before the christmas new year period. More stress means more buggy code due to the creative work involved in coding and software design generally.
My theory, seriously, is that the fall colors make a strong mental impression and preoccupy the mind with what would mathmatically be described as chaos. The vivid colors are to blame for the strengtj of the impression, but the pervasiveness of the collage of branching forms and "warning" colors is what drives it into sublimation, where it can have a strong effect on analytical productivity.
So, if that theory is correct, the October November effect shouldn't be seen in code from regions where leaves don't turn or aren't so pervasive.
"Stratigraphically the origin of agriculture and thermonuclear destruction will appear essentially simultaneous" -- Lee
Thats when the beer is freeflowing!!!
Free as in beer I say!
Don't give up on them quite yet. I seem to recall there was a genetic experiment recently where latent genes for teeth in some birds could be reactivated.
So there is some hope yet.