alt Hacker NewsHow about testing the output? Seems like the ultimate test. If the output's still good, I guess the rewrite didn't hurt.
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layer8 • today at 7:56 AM
Testing can expose errors, but it can’t prove correctness.
How about testing the output? Seems like the ultimate test. If the output's still good, I guess the rewrite didn't hurt.
Testing can expose errors, but it can’t prove correctness.
Kindof.
The problem is: quickly fixing problems (or preventing problems) benefits from having a good understanding of what the code is doing.
If you do have a suite of automated checks that's comprehensive enough that if it passes, no one will have any problems with the result, I think I'd agree. -- I don't think we're quite there at the point where "programming" is coming up with that suite of automated checks and then just not regarding the source code of the program itself.