Sun engineering is challenging all to download and find regressions between Java SE 5 (Tiger) and Java SE 6 (Mustang). The reward for those who find a regression is a participation T-Shirt. The reward for finding one of the top 5 regressions is an Ultra 20 workstation.

As we move towards the long anticipated release of Mustang they have entered the search for version to version compatibility bugs. Mustang binary snapshot are released on a weekly basis and what Sun would like is for you to download the binary and use your real world application to test the build. They have defined a regression as an implementation problem in a piece of code that works as intended in a released version but now fails to work properly in the new version. Though the engineers can’t promise that they will be able to address every bug that is found, they are stressing that the real reward of this contest is a more stable release for us all to enjoy.

If you are planning to participate then click here for the rules and entry form. What on your thoughts about this program? Do you feel this a good way to find bugs in the upcoming release?

Correct me if I am wrong... it seems that Sun people definitely lost their brain .. (once again!!) there are ready to give a t-shirt for finding one regression !!!! Is this serious ?? What's gonna be the next step ? one full new spec for a diet coke ?? or a complete migration assistant for a buck????

whhhaoooohhhh next few years will be tough for these guys!
My opinion is : in the heart of Sun, Java is dead... My bet is : how many time before they say... 'It's time for a new language!!!"

want to hear from you guys..

Stephan

Correct me if I am wrong... it seems that Sun people definitely lost their brain .. (once again!!) there are ready to give a t-shirt for finding one regression !!!! Is this serious ?? What's gonna be the next step ? one full new spec for a diet coke ?? or a complete migration assistant for a buck????whhhaoooohhhh next few years will be tough for these guys! My opinion is : in the heart of Sun, Java is dead... My bet is : how many time before they say... 'It's time for a new language!!!"want to hear from you guys..Stephan

I have to respectfully disagree with your assesment of this program. I believe this is Sun reaching out to the community looking for us to be involved in help shape it. What other company that you know of puts it efforts (warts and all) out there for all to see. And in the end if this does lead to a more stable release then isn't this a good thing?

Kind regards,
Kirk

Correct me if I am wrong... it seems that Sun people definitely lost their brain .. (once again!!) there are ready to give a t-shirt for finding one regression !!!! Is this serious ?? What's gonna be the next step ? one full new spec for a diet coke ?? or a complete migration assistant for a buck????...snipped...want to hear from you guys..Stephan

Yes, we are very serious. Since it seems you didn't read the contest description, I invite you to read my blog posting announcing the contest, or to look at the contest home page and you'll see that in addition to the t-shirts we're offering five Ultra 20 workstations.

Correct me if I am wrong... it seems that Sun people definitely lost their brain .. (once again!!) there are ready to give a t-shirt for finding one regression !!!! Is this serious ??

Stephan, can you tell me how many T-shirts you want for one regression found? ;)
Please, don't confuse this symbolic reward with your monthly salary ;)

Arcadius.

Correct me if I am wrong... it seems that Sun people definitely lost their brain .. (once again!!) there are ready to give a t-shirt for finding one regression !!!! Is this serious ?? What's gonna be the next step ? one full new spec for a diet coke ?? or a complete migration assistant for a buck????whhhaoooohhhh next few years will be tough for these guys! My opinion is : in the heart of Sun, Java is dead... My bet is : how many time before they say... 'It's time for a new language!!!"want to hear from you guys..Stephan

Hey Dude, it seams that your surname has one 't' too many.

You know most companies don't give you anything if you find a bug and most companies don't allow you to access their stuff unless you pay for it. At best, if you're lucky they will fix it, even if it's a none regression issue.

I think that it is a positive move and certainly an example to others. It is a sign of openess and confidence to open up your bug database. whatever company you're working for I'd sure like to see an open bug list of your software.

Regards,

Cédric

http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/top25_bugs.do

Can I have at least the T-shirt now please. :D

Regards,
Horia

I've marked myself as noisy but to no avail. Please ignore my first post. TSS, can I somehow delete my own comment?

I will in fact give this contest a try. No kidding.

Regards,
Horia

I wonder what constitues as a top regression?

Either way, this is not an attemp by Sun to hire testers. As a more and more Open Source friendly company, they are just trying to get people to contribute to the language that we actually use. Woudn't hurt anyone, actualy some might learn a thing or two.

Ilya

i agree with Kirk Pepperdine's reply.

There's a new software development model for you: closed source, open tests. They are only going to pay a t-shirt's worth per bug, and most importantly they are not to going to pay for the thousands of hours people may spend testing and coming up with nothing (which hopefully accounts for most of the time!)

I think another option would be to recruit, say, a thousand java developers out there to review code changes using semantic diffs of the source tree, and then dispatch, collect, verify bug reports, and pay reviewers using a fully automated workflow system.

Guglielmo

Enjoy the Fastest-Known Total Ordering Protocol

.. or the World's First Pure-Java Terminal Driver

I think it's good SUN is willing to open up and let people see all the warts. It's a brave move and I hope it results in better quality.

peter

That's great!
I believe that will make the new version of java better.
Thanks Sun, Java Community!

This a great way to do regression testing.

or is it

that it is cheaper to give away T shirts than to hire testers :-) (just kidding)

jokes aside ....

 this is a great way to do regresion testing

_sunny

Tip: Try the Date and Calendar classes. There is always something to find there.

That's a really good tip! LMAO