Software Engineering - Evolving Computer Programs

Explore the intersection of software engineering and evolutionary biology in this illuminating lecture by Stephanie Forrest from the Santa Fe Institute. Delve into the complex world of software development, examining how large systems evolve inadvertently through the actions of multiple programmers, often leading to unexpected and costly outcomes. Discover how concepts from biology, particularly Darwinian evolution, can revolutionize our approach to creating, understanding, and debugging software. Learn about the properties of biology that can be applied to computer programming, the nature of software bugs, and the implementation of bug bounty programs. Investigate repair techniques, the prevalence of bugs in software, and the surprising effectiveness of random mutations in solving programming issues. Gain insights into the neutral theory of evolution and its relevance to software engineering, and understand the importance of these concepts in the broader context of technological advancement.

Introduction
Stephanie Forest
Properties of Biology
Lecture Outline
Tutorial Outline
Computer Programming
Software Bugs
Bug Bounty Programs
How Do We Fix Bugs
Repair
Programming
Many Bugs
Conclusion
How can this be
Most bugs are small
Cleverness
The Neutral Theory
Random Mutations
Why is this important
Macroevolution