Seriously Good Software

Chapter 5. Self-conscious code: Reliability through monitoring

This chapter covers

• Writing method specifications in contract form
• Enforcing contracts at runtime
• Using assertions
• Checking class invariants as a lightweight alternative to postconditions

Software reliability refers to the extent to which the system performs as expected, in a variety of operating conditions. In this chapter, we’ll explore the main coding techniques you can use to prevent or expose unexpected program behaviors. But first, let’s discuss how you can define the expected behavior of a piece of software, aka its specification. In line with the structure of this book, I’ll focus on the behavior of a single class, such as Container. A popular way to organize specifications ...