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Which of these alternatives is the best one?

  • Bugs are often found on rarely used code paths

  • Bugs are often found in rarely used code paths

  • Bugs are often found at rarely used code paths

I have a hunch that either on or in are most appropriate but I have no idea which one to use here. A path is something you can stand on top of but a code section is something that the bugs can be inside of.

curiousdannii
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hugomg
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    You don't need the word "path" at all. Bugs are found soonest (e.g. by QA) in code that is executed often; bugs often remain undetected by QA in rarely executed code, and are thus often discovered by users in rarely executed code. – TimR Jul 09 '15 at 20:42
  • What about around, about, among or between? Any preposition would make grammatical sense here. It's whatever you stylistically feel like using. – scohe001 Jul 09 '15 at 20:44
  • On or in would work. If you strike "paths," use in. At would work if you rephrase ("...rarely executed points in the code" or the like). – phoog Jul 09 '15 at 20:45
  • @Tim Romano: My intention was to distinguish "rarely used code paths" from "rarely used code lines". Its possible for a test to have 100% line coverage but still not test every possible execution trace. – hugomg Jul 09 '15 at 20:54
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    I'm going to strike a dissenting note, here, and cast a vote for leaving "paths." Sometimes bugs are found (usually by customers) in code that is executed often. When that well-trodden code segment is executed in a standard or usual way, it causes no trouble. It's when it's part of an unusual path that it's a problem. Bugs are found idiomatically in code. – deadrat Jul 09 '15 at 20:55
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    @TimRomano Bugs are found by QA! That's adorable. Really. – deadrat Jul 09 '15 at 20:56
  • Often bugs are found by users on untested code paths. – TimR Jul 09 '15 at 20:56
  • Everything depends on how the "code paths" are metaphorized and examined. There are at least three varieties depending on the metaphrical topography and topology, and they produce in, at, and on. – John Lawler Jul 09 '15 at 21:46
  • Or bugs are found by the technical writer who is tasked with making a User Manual for an app, documenting it with no trail of written specifications to refer to. – Brian Hitchcock Jul 10 '15 at 09:11
  • Either of the first two. And I disagree with Tim -- using "path" is appropriate in some, perhaps most, circumstances. – Hot Licks Aug 09 '15 at 03:11

1 Answers1

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I would argue that (computer) bugs are always found in things, whether those things be "code" or "paths". If they were on (that is, external to) things, that would imply that they should in some way be obvious.

wfaulk
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