One of the more interesting questions in software engineering today is “Is it possible to produce error-free software?”

Advocates of various technological advances tend to argue that, with whatever approach they are advocating, error-free software is indeed possible. Software old-timers are, at best, dubious.

A recent study casts important light on this issue. That study sets out to explore the related question “Can state-of-the-art software engineering methods guarantee reliability?” As it turns out, perhaps surprisingly, the answer was “no”.

– Robert L. Glass, Error-Free Software Remains Extremely Elusive, IEEE Software, Jan/Feb 2003, Volume 20, No 1

Doesn’t surprise me at all.