When Programs Don’t Work

Many new programmers become discouraged when they start to test their programs. Errors appear everywhere. Some of these are syntax errors, which are identified by the computer as it looks at the program and becomes confused by what you wrote. Other errors are logic errors, which are noticed only by the programmer as the program is being tested (and might be overlooked entirely). Logic errors sneak by the computer unnoticed, but they often cause it to do something unintended.

As you begin writing your own programs, you become well acquainted with errors. They’re a natural part of the process. Programming errors are called bugs, a term that dates back a century or more to describe errors in technical devices. The process of fixing errors has its own term also: debugging. It’s no coincidence that so many ways exist to describe programming errors. You get a lot of debugging experience as you learn programming—whether you want it or not.