A Requirements Specification states “The software shall show the weather for the next 24 hours”. The programmer delivers software that runs for 24 hours showing the current weather. However, what the user actually wanted was for it to show the weather forecast over the next 24 hours. What kind of computer failure is this?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question presents a scenario where the Requirements Specification asks for the weather forecast over the next 24 hours, but the delivered software shows the current weather for 24 hours. The task is to identify the type of computer failure.
Option a: Malice. This implies deliberate harm or sabotage by someone with intent. The scenario describes a mismatch between user intent and system output, not an intentional attack or malicious action, so this is not the correct characterization.
Option b: Misuse. Misuse would involve using the system in an unintended way, or the user exploiting features beyond its intended use. Here, the system itself misinterprets or misimplements the requested functionality rather than the user misusing it, so this option is misleading.
Option c: Software error, "bug". A bug is a defect in the software code that leads to incorrect behavior. While the outcome (showing current weather instead of a 24-hour forecast) is a faulty behavior, the root cause in this context is more about interpreting the requirement rather than a generic coding bug. If the code correctly shows a forecast for 24 hours but the requirement was misunderstood, it’s less precise to call it a bug.
Option d: Computer solves the wrong problem. This phrase captures the core issue: the software fulfilled the literal instruction (show weather for 24 hours) but not the user’s actual need (a forecast over the next 24 hours). The system solved a different problem than intended, which aligns with the described failure mode of misalignment between specification and implementation.
In summary, the scenario demonstrates a misalignment between the intended problem to be solved and the one actually solved by the software, which corresponds to the notion that the computer solved the wrong problem rather than simply having a bug or being misused or maliciously attacked.

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