Fatal Defect : Chasing Killer Computer Bugs

Peterson, Ivars

ISBN 10: 0812920236 / ISBN 13: 9780812920239

Published by Times Books : Random House, New York, 1995

About this Item

FIRST PRINTING of the First Edition (stated). A fascinating examation of how software defects, design errors, and other computer-related glitches result in real-world problems for ordinary people, such as ATMs that don't work properly, medical misdiagnoses and wrong treatments administered, records lost, identities 'stolen', much more, and what people and society can and should do to protect themselves. Hardcover with dust jacket, contains bibliography, indexed, 260pp., remainders dot. A very nice copy, the jacket neatly encased in an acid-free Brodart plastic protector. Rare. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Seller Inventory # 00007232

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Fatal Defect : Chasing Killer Computer Bugs
• Publisher: Times Books : Random House, New York
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0812920236
• ISBN 13: 9780812920239
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition (stated).
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Book Type: Book
• Seller catalogs:
  • General

About this title

Synopsis

More than ever, our society depends on the reliable - if not always correct - functioning of computers. Computers amplify not only our genius but our flaws, sometimes to intolerable extremes. Author Ivars Peterson traces the lurching history of software development and describes how misconceptions and mistakes have become an inextricable part of computer programs and systems. He creates fascinating and colorful profiles of the people who hunt down these elusive computer bugs and struggle to make an inherently fallible system less treacherous. He also offers dozens of detailed examples of how computer failures occur - some amusing, some annoying, others terrifying, even fatal.
Each computer failure is a reminder that we all pay a price for sloppy thinking in software development, for making the rush to market a more important consideration than safety and reliability. No software can ever be guaranteed 100 percent bug-free, but if we analyze our past mistakes and rethink our approach to computers, we can defuse some ticking time bombs and create a more trustworthy next generation of computers.

Reviews

When the computer crashes, taking the plane, spacecraft, or phone system down with it, the postmortem falls to "bug hunters," software experts whom Science News reporter Peterson has followed through some of their investigations and analysis. But nonhackers needn't expect an overload of cyberspeak: Peterson explains in clear English how the engineers find and squash bugs. The methods vary with the age of the beast: "program archaeology" involves reconstructing what the original programmer was thinking of, whereas new programs, especially those written for aerospace purposes, utilize "program verifiers" that monitor the program's status. But aside from methods, software-caused disasters are the eye-catching anecdotes Peterson offers, ranging from a radiation machine that killed patients, to France's accident-prone Airbus plane, to Russia's embarrassing loss of two Mars probes, to a disaster-in-waiting--come the year 2000, warns one bug hunter, "algorithmic anarchy" might reign, for business software wasn't designed to switch dates from 1999 to 2000. However shortsighted that design decision was, it well illustrates Peterson's theme: software defects are inevitable. Gilbert Taylor