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.
Replies
rgoulter • today at 3:21 AM
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.
Testing can expose errors, but it can’t prove correctness.