Defensive programming: Difference between revisions

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{{howto|date=March 2012}}

'''Defensive programming''' is aan formapproach ofto [[defensiveimproving design]]software intendedand tosource ensurecode, the continuingin functionterms of areducing the piecenumber of [[software]] underbugs unforeseenand circumstances.problems, Defensivemaking programmingthe practicessource arecode oftencomprehensible, usedand wheremaking [[highthe availability]],software [[safety]],behave orin [[computer security|security]]a ispredictable neededmanner.

Defensive programming is an approach to improve software and [[source code]], in terms of:

* General quality – reducing the number of [[software bug]]s and problems.

* Making the source code comprehensible – the source code should be readable and understandable so it is approved in a [[code audit]].

* Making the software behave in a predictable manner despite unexpected inputs or user actions.

Overly defensive programming, however, may safeguard against errors that will never be encountered, thus incurring run-time and maintenance costs. There is also a risk that code traps prevent too many [[Exception handling|exceptions]], potentially resulting in unnoticed, incorrect results.

== Secure programming ==

{{main|Secure coding}}

Secure programming is the subset of defensive programming concerned with [[computer security]]. SecurityThe is the concern, not necessarily safety or availability (the [[software]] may be allowed to fail in certain ways). As with all kinds of defensive programming, avoiding bugs is a primarymain objective; however, the motivation is not as much to reduce the likelihood of failure in normal operation (as if safety were the concern), but to reduce the attack surface – the programmer must assume that the software might be misused actively to revealavoid bugs, and that bugs could be exploited maliciously.

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">int risky_programming(char *input) {