Understanding software bugs

When writing software, things will not always go according to plan. The programs we create will contain bugs.

The term bug to describe an error, flaw, or fault in a program dates way long before we had any computers. It has been recorded as a part of engineering jargon since the 1870s. In a letter, dated 1878, to an associate, Thomas Edison wrote the following:

"It has been just so in all of my inventions. The first step is an intuition, and comes with a burst, then difficulties arise—this thing gives out and [it is] then that "Bugs"—as such, little faults and difficulties are called—show themselves and months of intense watching, study, and labor are requisite before commercial success or failure is certainly reached."

The first mechanical pinball game, Baffle Ball, was advertised as being free from bugs in 1931, and in 1944, Isaac Asimov used the term bug to describe issues with a robot in the short story...