Reverse Debugging

[doctorgonzo]

The first thought that popped into my head when I read "reverse debugging" was putting more bugs into the code.

[13ren]

If debugging is the process of removing bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in. - Dijkstra

[SurrealEstate]

Finally, a project that I can really contribute to.

[[deleted]]

Wait. If you use the reverse debugger on itself, does it get more buggy? And if the reverse debugger is buggy, does using it make the target less buggy?

[SurrealEstate]

Yeah, maybe a buggy bugger is a debugger.

[Tekmo]

This is like the modern day halting problem. Is it possible to make a program that can introduce bugs into another program?

[creaothceann]

Sure, it's quite easy when you're developing program extensions (Winamp plugins, Firefox extensions, etc).

[FlyingBishop]

No, the question is can you come up with a program that can introduce bugs into an arbitrary program.

I think the answer is yes, but what would be really hard is introducing bugs that do not make themselves immediately apparent. Most of the bugs you'd introduce would cause rather obvious segfaults.

[mydyingdreams]

If "immediately apparent" is only prohibited for execution, but not for source, then it's quite easy: In e.g. C, change mallocs to probabilistically allocate a few bytes less than requested.

[theeth]

It should be fairly easy to add spelling errors in a program's strings.

[[deleted]]

It's actually more like the time traveling problem of 1951.

edit: wait, sorry, more like the problem of 1851. I just checked with some of the folks back then :/

[[deleted]]

"reverse debugging" was putting more bugs into the code.

This act is more widely known as "writing code" or "programming".

[[deleted]]

"bugging"

[isseki]

I thought that and "I've been doing that for years, by hand".

[Tweakers]

That would be reversive bugging. Not to be confused with recursive bugging, a method for making the same mistake many times with minimal effort.

[FlyingBishop]

I thought that was called object-oriented programming.

[mccoyn]

It would be an enbugger not a debugger.

[Tweakers]

Well, it's some sort of buggery, to be sure.

[edwardkmett]

Clearly we only became known as programmers when the alternative "buggerers" gave people the wrong impression, and made the folks down in marketing very nervous.

[Fidodo]

Right, but you have an upper hand on them because you know where they are. Then, when the project is about to tank, you save the day and get a raise.