David has over 40 years of industry experience in software development and information technology and a bachelor of computer science
We live in a world that is constantly in motion. In fact, some say it moves twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year. It isn't so hard to imagine. Just look at how busy you are. We also expect the technology in our world to move at the same speed. But there is a price, a toll we must pay for that ability. No pausing for a breather, and no stopping for faults or failures! It follows that this applies to our computer systems and the programs that make them run. As a result, we apply terms like robustness to describe this ability.
A program is a collection of commands that a computer executes in order to perform some focused activity. Some contain only a few of these commands, while others contain hundreds, if not thousands. Regardless of the size, programs provide the game plan a computer system needs to be effective at whatever task is required of it. For example, the development teams at Microsoft have created Windows, a program that controls the basic operation of a computer. And they are not alone, similar teams exist at Apple for MAC OS and companies like Red Hat for Linux. These are only a small sample, as programs form a fundamental part of a computer's ecosystem.
The term robust is used to describe something that is lively, strong, or steadfast. For example, one might consider a table robust if it has thick, sturdy legs and a solid top. It can also mean that something has the ability to perform without failure under a variety of conditions. Your vehicle might be considered robust if it starts every day and gets you to work without incident, rain, shine or snow. Robustness is a measure of how well something performs the task it was designed to undertake.
With respect to a computer program, the term robust is used in a similar fashion. It describes the ability of a program to handle the many inputs (good and bad) that can affect its operation. As such, some of the more notable characteristics that a robust program includes are:
To recap, a program is a collection of computer commands that perform some focused activity. Robust is used to describe something that is active, sturdy, or solid. When used in connection with computer programs, it describes the ability to handle the many influences that can affect its operation. Characteristics of robust programs include user input filtering, controlled data access, logging and auditing, exception handling, and self-diagnosis.
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