Software bug: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:54, 11 October 2024

Revision as of 19:13, 30 October 2024

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{{software development process}}

A '''software bug''' is a design defect ([[Bug (engineering)|bug]]) in [[computer software]]. A [[computer program]] with many or serious bugs may be described as ''buggy''.

A [[computer program]] with many or serious bugs may be described as ''buggy''.

The effects of a software bug range from minor (such as a misspelled word in the [[user interface]]) to severe (such as frequent [[crash (computing)|crashing]]).

Software bugs have been linked to disasters. Software bugs in the [[Therac-25]] [[radiation therapy]] machine were directly responsible for patient deaths in the 1980s. In 1996, the [[European Space Agency]]'s US$1&nbsp;billion prototype [[Ariane flight V88|Ariane 5 rocket was destroyed]] less than a minute after launch due to a bug in the on-board guidance computer program.<ref>{{cite journal

|title= ARIANE 5 Flight 501 Failure Report by the Inquiry Board

|date=July 23, 1996

|issue=33–1996

|journal=[[The European Space Agency]]

|series=Ariane 501 Inquiry Board report

|url=https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Press_Releases/Ariane_501_-_Presentation_of_Inquiry_Board_report

}}</ref>

In 1994, an [[1994 Scotland RAF Chinook crash|RAF Chinook helicopter crashed]], killing 29; was initially blamed on pilot error, but was later thought to have been caused by a software bug in the [[FADEC|engine-control computer]].<ref>{{cite journal

|author= [[Simon Rogerson]]

|url= http://www.ccsr.cse.dmu.ac.uk/resources/general/ethicol/Ecv12no2.html

|title=The Chinook Helicopter Disaster

|journal=IMIS Journal

|volume=12

|issue=2

|date=April 2002

|url-status= dead

|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/19930915000000/http://www.ccsr.cse.dmu.ac.uk/resources/general/ethicol/Ecv12no2.html

|archive-date=September 15, 1993

|access-date=May 27, 2024}} [https://www5.in.tum.de/~huckle/chinook_software.pdf Alt URL]</ref>

Buggy software caused the early 21st century [[British Post Office scandal]].<ref name=beeb182>{{Cite news |title=Post Office scandal ruined lives, inquiry hears |author=<!--not stated--> |work=BBC News |date=14 February 2022 |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60374182}}</ref>

In 2002, a study commissioned by the US [[Department of Commerce]]'s [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] concluded that "software bugs, or errors, are so prevalent and so detrimental that they cost the US economy an estimated $59&nbsp;billion annually, or about 0.6 percent of the gross domestic product".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/n02-10.htm |title=Software bugs cost US economy dear |date=June 10, 2009 |access-date=September 24, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090610052743/http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/n02-10.htm |archive-date=June 10, 2009 }}</ref>

Since the 1950s, some computer systems have been designed to detect or auto-correct various software errors during operations.<!--[[User:Kvng/RTH]]-->

== History ==

Line 60 ⟶ 36:

incident,<ref name=ieeeGlossary/>{{rp|39}}

or side effect.

==Examples==

Software bugs have been linked to disasters.

* Software bugs in the [[Therac-25|Therac-25 radiation therapy machine]] were directly responsible for patient deaths in the 1980s.<ref name="Raj">{{cite journal | last1 = Leveson | first1 = Nancy G. | author-link1 = Nancy G. Leveson | last2 = Turner | first2 = Clark S. | date = 1993-07-01 | title = An Investigation of the Therac-25 Accidents | journal = [[Computer (magazine)|Computer]] | volume = 26 | issue = 7 | pages = 18{{hyphen}}41 | publisher = [[IEEE Computer Society]] | doi = 10.1109/MC.1993.274940 | eissn = 1558-0814 | issn = 0018-9162 | lccn = 74648480 | s2cid = 9691171 | oclc = 2240099 | url = https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5dr206s3 | df = dmy-all}}</ref>

Software bugs have been linked to disasters. Software bugs in the [[Therac-25]] [[radiation therapy]] machine were directly responsible for patient deaths in the 1980s.* In 1996, the [[European Space Agency]]'s US$1&nbsp;billion prototype [[Ariane flight V88|Ariane 5 rocket was destroyed]] less than a minute after launch due to a bug in the on-board guidance computer program.<ref>{{cite journal

|title= ARIANE 5 Flight 501 Failure Report by the Inquiry Board

|date=July 23, 1996

|issue=33–1996

|journal=[[The European Space Agency]]

|series=Ariane 501 Inquiry Board report

|url=https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Press_Releases/Ariane_501_-_Presentation_of_Inquiry_Board_report

}}</ref>

* In 1994, an [[1994 Scotland RAF Chinook crash|RAF Chinook helicopter crashed]], killing 29; was initially blamed on pilot error, but was later thought to have been caused by a software bug in the [[FADEC|engine-control computer]].<ref>{{cite journal

|author= [[Simon Rogerson]]

|url= http://www.ccsr.cse.dmu.ac.uk/resources/general/ethicol/Ecv12no2.html

|title=The Chinook Helicopter Disaster

|journal=IMIS Journal

|volume=12

|issue=2

|date=April 2002

|url-status= dead

|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/19930915000000/http://www.ccsr.cse.dmu.ac.uk/resources/general/ethicol/Ecv12no2.html

|archive-date=September 15, 1993

|access-date=May 27, 2024}} [https://www5.in.tum.de/~huckle/chinook_software.pdf Alt URL]</ref>

* Buggy software caused the early 21st century [[British Post Office scandal]].<ref name=beeb182>{{Cite news |title=Post Office scandal ruined lives, inquiry hears |author=<!--not stated--> |work=BBC News |date=14 February 2022 |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60374182}}</ref>

== Controversy ==