Why programs fail
by Andreas Zeller · first published 2005
9mentions
7recommended by
8HN commenters
2012–2026first – last mentioned
88% recommend13% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Systematic, teachable approach to debugging rather than ad hoc trial and error; praised as a good gift for junior developers and anyone who wants to learn to debug rigorously.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…few years. The author is advised by S. Hack (http://compilers.cs.uni-saarland.de/people/hack/publications...). Saarland also has Andreas Zeller ( https://www.st.cs.uni-saarland.de/zeller/) who wrote 'Why Programs Fail' which I gift to junior developers. There's also the great Fuzzing Book (https://www.fuzzingbook.org) in progress. Probably a great place to do CS research right now.
on “LVC – Linear Verified Compiler” ↗Andreas Zeller's Why Programs Fail is an excellent read for anyone who wants to learn to debug rigorously.
on “Debugging with Hypotheses” ↗Andreas Zeller, original author of GNU DDD, has a good book called "Why Programs Fail: A Guide to Systematic Debugging", 2nd edition. http://www.amazon.com/Why-Programs-Fail-Systematic-Debugging...
on “Ask HN: Good books on debugging?” ↗In addition to the mentioned book "Debugging" by David Agans there is also "Why programs fail" by Andreas Zeller: http://www.whyprogramsfail.com/ The author of the latter book is a Professor from Saarbrücken and former maintainer of GNU DDD.
on “Finding the Four Month Bug: A Debugging Story (2015)” ↗Gifted to all new hires, lent to all interns (gifted if finished ;-) : Why Programs Fail, by Andreas Zeller. http://www.whyprogramsfail.com
on “Ask HN: Best book to gift someone for getting into software engineering?” ↗Also see Why Programs Fail: A Guide to Systematic Debugging by Andreas Zeller - https://shop.elsevier.com/books/why-programs-fail/zeller/978...
on “The Book of Debugging” ↗…hard-won experiences, but debugging is a skill that can be taught. The academic world (well, some part of it) knows about debugging and is surely qualified to put together a curriculum. Really, go read "Why Programs Fail". http://www.whyprogramsfail.com/ A lot of what I know about debugging I learned in the trenches, but I also learned a lot from that book. My question is that why I had to discover this book myself,…
on “Want good programmers? Then pay them.” ↗I was just reading the editorial reviews for the "Why Programs Fail" [0] that you recommended and couldn't agree more with this statement: "Today every computer program written is also debugged, but debugging is not a widely studied or taught skill. Few books beyond…
on “LVC – Linear Verified Compiler” ↗…https://www.monperrus.net/martin/empirical-studies-on-bugs --- I also intent to read a couple of these books: Debug It! Debugging by Thinking Debugging: The 9 Indispensable Rules The Practice of Programming Reversing: Secrets of Reverse Engineering Why Programs Fail
on “Ask HN: Software Debugging Papers?” ↗