Saturday, July 9, 2022

Why do we use bug and debugging in coding?

 Ever wondered why we call defects in programming as "bugs" and process of removing them as "debugging"?

It goes back earlier days of computing where we used mechanical relays to power the computers

These terms are arguably coined by Admiral Grace Hopper who back in the '40s, was working on a monolithic Harvard Mark II electromechanical computer. According to legend, Hopper found a moth(insect/bug)  stuck in a relay, thus preventing the system from working. Removal of the moth was hence called : debugging.