Software was made to be imperfect. All software for all systems is meant to have glitches and bugs. For a software tester, it is his job to eliminate as many of these bugs as possible. However, there are so many issues to consider when designing software, it is impossible to locate all the glitches.
Software companies ask their engineers to conduct tests on their programs to discover any issues. Whether it’s a high-profile company such as Apple, or a small-time software company, each will ask testers and engineers to locate bugs in their software and hardware. For instance, engineers for a software company may perform load testing methods to understand why an operating system is running slow, while a usability engineer may study the users methods for operating a program. All electronic devices and systems that use software are bound to have glitches, and users are bound to discover these issues. Some glitches can be so severe they can have catastrophic consequences.
Zune Player Set to Crash on New Years
Microsoft created the Zune player to compete with the iPod. However, when the clock struck 12:01 on New Years day, Zune players started to malfunction. Zune players crashed, resulting in the lost of all music data, contact information and purchases. Microsoft apologized for the issue and released a firmware update to resolve the issue. However, the reputation of the Zune had taken a hit, and a P.R. nightmare ensued for Microsoft resulting in lost of millions of dollars and the trust of their customers.
The Start of World War III
During the Cold War, tensions between the United States and Russia had reached an all-time high. Americans tried to prevent communism from spreading, while Russia tried to spread it wherever possible. The two sides started an arms race, creating several installations with nuclear missiles ready to launch at a moments notice. During this time, Russia built a missile detection system to target any ballistic missiles fired from the United States. But when the Russian detection software falsely identified the firing of U.S. missiles, it almost launched the world into catastrophe.
Wall Street Crashes
Black Monday, also known as the day Wall Street crashed, ended up causing 500 million dollars in losses for companies. When investors started to trade, computer trading programs sold off thousands of stocks, overloading the system and leading to its eventual crash. In the coming hours, millions of dollars were lost and the after effects of the computer program lead to an SEC investigation that pointed the blame at investors committing insider trading.
While some glitches may seem minor, they can have catastrophic effects that can lead to deaths, loss in money and even a loss in trust from a company’s most trusted clients. Software engineers try to eliminate these issues by utilizing any sort of test, from mobile app testing to stress testing. However it is impossible to find all the glitches in a system before they reach the users hands. Sometimes it takes the user to locate these issues and almost start World War III to eliminate the glitch or issue.
Find out more about Technology Blogs.
http://SOASTA.com – Mobile application testing with unprecedented speed. Try a product demo.