ahoy nerd-o!!

if you are not a super-nerd, stop reading.




i'm serious.



stop now.




ok, you've been warned.




on monday, i went to a talk hosted by the research side of labs on predictive bug detection in software. in short, it was an algorithm that analyzes api calls and looks what you are doing before and after api/function calls. it then categorizes what you're doing and sees if there is a pattern. if a large percentage fall into a pattern and a function call doesn't match the pattern, it is flagged for manual inspection. say for example, you always check for null on a return call but suddenly, in some random slice of code, you don't perform the check, the 'bug detector' flags the code for manual inspection.

this work is still in its infancy and doesn't do anything crazy but it's an interesting concept that, once fully mature, will probably be a very useful tool in industry. i only fear that, just like Microsoft Word makes for poor spellers, dependency on a tool such as this will make for sloppy developers.

see, i tried to warn you and you just wouldn't listen. in order to make amends, i shall propose a new topic: if a turtle loses his shell, is he homeless or naked? discuss.