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378 points todsacerdoti | 2 comments | 22 Aug 25 07:08 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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mensetmanusman ◴[22 Aug 25 13:18 UTC] No.44984308[source]▶
Not being a programmer, I have a question.

Can any program be broken down into functions and functions of functions that have inputs and outputs so that they can be verified if they are working?

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1. taco_emoji ◴[22 Aug 25 13:38 UTC] No.44984555[source]▶
Long story short: no.

Long story: yes, but it'd take centuries to verify all possible inputs, at least for any non-trivial programs.

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2. black_knight ◴[22 Aug 25 13:40 UTC] No.44984578[source]▶
Proofs of correctness is a thing. If you prove something correct you don’t have to test every input. It just takes a big effort to design the program this way. And must be done from the beginning.