6.13 Source, Version, and ID Control Errors

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These types of errors are generally caused by poor configuration management and an internal lack of enforcement of existing configuration management policies and procedures. An example of this is having a new programmer insert a Beta version of code into a production stable release for a normal bug fix and then not telling anyone a change has been made in that module. Normal testing of the maintenance release will likely not catch the problem, and it may go unnoticed for several subsequent releases.

As another example, this situation could be something as insidious as a data error that shows up only when quarterly financials are produced. When there is no reason to be found as to why the company balance sheet is off by several hundred thousand dollars, much effort is expended in having senior developers perform code traces to find a problem. Someone will eventually discover that there is some Beta code in a production module that has errantly rounded everything to the nearest dollar or some other similar stupid mistake. Good intentions aside, the best cure for these types of problems is good programmer discipline for configuration management and having strong policy enforcement ingrained into an organization’s corporate culture.

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