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DP: Defensive Programming

In focussing on the main logic of a program, programmers may fail to take into account abnormal situations, such as invalid data input, or a hard disk becoming full. As a result, their programs are vulnerable to unexpected events or conditions. In essence, such programs have holes in their defenses.

In particular, interfaces between programs are some of the most error-prone areas in a system. One often-cited study found that 39% of all software errors were internal interface errors, i.e., errors in communication between programs.

Clearly to ensure more robust programs, we need not only to protect ourselves from our own mistakes, but also to isolate our programs from the potential errors of others. We refer to this approach as Defensive Programming.

There are various causes of program malfunction that we can defend against: