Find the Bug A Book of Incorrect Programs

Bug hunting is an art, and you need to be a master. Get Find the Bug, and you'll become one. Long-time Microsoft programmer Adam Barr presents 50 programs, each with exactly one bug. Your assignment: find it. As you do, Barr will teach you how to "think like your processor"... anticipating exactly how code will behave, even without running it. You'll learn better ways to read code, understand it -- and above all, improve it. Whether you're building new systems or maintaining someone else's, you'll find bugs earlier, faster, with less frustration... and write cleaner code to begin with.

• Presents "bugged" programs in C, Java, Python, Perl, and x86 assembly language, with carefully explained solutions

• Includes language overviews to help you debug all 50 examples, even if you don't know the language

• Shows how to look past the "surface" of code to uncover its hidden internal logic

• Offers practical guidance on analyzing programs, including specific inputs to test

• Presents a wide range of realistic bugs, with no phony "gotchas"

• Draws on the types of coding and debugging challenges Microsoft uses to interview new programmers

• An indispensable resource for working programmers, maintainers, testers, quality specialists, and everyone involved in code reviews

Table of Contents

		About the Author
		Preface
		Chapter 1.  Bug Classification
		Chapter 2.  Tips on Walking Through Code
			Split the Code into Sections with Goals
			Identify the Meaning of Each Variable
			Look for Known Gotchas
			Choose Inputs for Walkthroughs
			Walk Through Each Section
			Summary
		Chapter 3.  C
			Brief Summary of C
			Selection Sort
			Linked List Insertion
			Linked List Removal
			Memory Copy
			Parse a String into Substrings
			Memory Allocator
			Memory Free
			Recursive Word Reversal
			Calculate All Possible Routes
			Kanji Backspace
		Chapter 4.  Python
			Brief Summary of Python
			Is a Number Prime?
			Find a Substring
			Alphabetize Words
			Encode Strings Using a Character Map
			Print the Month and Day
			Go Fish, Part I: Draw a Card from a Deck
			Go Fish, Part II: Ask if Another Hand Has a Card
			Go Fish, Part III: Play a Full Game
			Parse Numbers Written in English
			Assign Gift Givers
		Chapter 5.  Java
			Brief Summary of Java
			Is a Year a Leap Year?
			Convert a Number to Text
			Draw a Triangle on the Screen, Part I
			Draw a Triangle on the Screen, Part II
			Reverse a Linked List
			Check if a List Has a Loop
			Quicksort
			Play the Game Pong, Part I
			Play the Game Pong, Part II
			Compute Bowling Scores
		Chapter 6.  Perl
			Brief Summary of Perl
			Sort a File by Line Length
			Print the Prime Factors of a Number
			Tab Expansion
			Simple Database
			Find Repeating Part of a Fraction
			Expand Indented File List to Full Paths
			Sort All the Files in a Directory Tree
			Calculate Student Test Averages
			Merge Sort of Multiple Files
			Play the Game Mastermind
		Chapter 7.  x86 Assembly Language
			Brief Summary of x86 Assembly Language
			Make Change for a Dollar
			Multiply Two Numbers Using Shifts
			Join Strings with a Delimiter
			Calculate Fibonacci Numbers
			Check if Two Words Are Anagrams
			Convert a 64-Bit Number to a Decimal String
			Sum a Signed Array
			Play the Simulation Game Life
			Check if Parentheses Match in Source Code
			Radix Exchange Sort
		Appendix A.  Classification of Bugs
			Syntax Versus Semantics
			Classification Used in This Book
			A–Algorithm
			D–Data
			F–Forgotten
			B–Blunder
			Summary
		Appendix B.  Index of Bugs by Type
		Appendix C.  References
			Classification of Bugs
			General Sources for Bug Types
			C
			Python
			Java
			Perl
			x86 Assembly Language
		Index