2.1 What Do We Want in Our Software?

In an ideal world, what do we look for in our software? There are many answers to this question, but, more than anything else, one stands out: the production of totally fault-free software. We look for that because, we reason, given such software, our systems should work exactly as planned. But will they? Unfortunately, not necessarily so, as will be shown later. When designing software, a total system view must be taken. There are too many opportunities to get designs and implementations wrong; it isn't just confined to the code-writing stage.

In this chapter, we'll first look at the root problems of such errors. Then, we'll define the qualities of software that attempt to eliminate these. You must be realistic about them, however. Given the current state of design tools, it is impossible to guarantee the delivery of fault-free systems (on a personal note, I believe that totally fault-free systems are a myth).

Therefore, if...