Cognitive Bias, or Why you should get someone else to test your code
.NET August 8th, 2010This happens to be a frequent topic for discussion, where people either believe they shouldnt have to get someone else to test their code, or why they should get someone else, who isnt biased, to test their code.
I am a very strong believer in getting someone else to check my work. I am the one who written it, I know what its supposed to do, and I am biased in weather checking if it will work, or not. It is always better to get a second pair of eyes to check over something that you have written / implemented, just to make sure its working correctly. Im not the only one who likes to do this. Pharmacists HAVE to get someone else to check to see if they have dispensed the right prescription drug. Radiologists have to get a 2nd opinion to see if there is a fracture on a bone. In Air Traffic Control, there are computer systems, to make sure that two planes do not try to occupy the same space at the same time.
Take this phenomenon called Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT). Its very interesting, and a bit gruesome. You take a perfectly good plane, fully working and fueled up, and you put a pilot into it, and he might fly it into the ground (or a mountain, or the sea, or an obstacle), in a controlled manor. According to Boeing, its one of the leading cause of airplane accidents and loss of life. This can be caused by a number of things, pilot disorentation, loss of situational awareness, minor problems manifesting themselfs.
Basically, the soft squishy human can be wrong. Two humans are less likely to be wrong than one, 3 more than 2, etc.
Get someone else to test your code. Seriously.


Recent Comments