System errors emanating from insufficient analysis are more catastrophic than those originating from poor coding.

The roles of the Systems Analyst and Programmer are both highly important and skilled occupations. The Systems Analyst researches all aspects of a business and its procedures to find a solution to a particular problem or a set of problems within an organisation’s processes and procedures. The programmer, where an electronic solution is best, writes a program to construct software which hopefully helps a customer’s business to run more efficiently. In essence, the software development business is a service industry and customer satisfaction is one of the most important emphases in a goods and services market. If the satisfaction is not there then the software developer could be decreasing its chance for revenue and making a profit. This essay will look at the subject of system errors from both the area of analysis and that of programming, or coding, and attempt to decide which kind of error is the most devastating to businesses and users alike.

H. L. Mencken states ‘ To every complex question there is always a simple answer –

In conclusion, errors on the part of the Programmer can have serious implications although it appears much simpler to rectify these most of the time. The Programmer can be the best in the business but if the System Analyst does not document what is truly wanted then the software will be of quality, but not of value to the customer since is not what the customer wants. In this case, re-tracing steps in analysis to rectify the errors would be virtually impossible. Maciaszek maintains ‘There are many examples of technically inferior systems that work and benefit customers. The inverse is not true.’ A system which does not benefit the customer will be rejected no matter how brilliantly coded it is. This supports the fact that system errors as a result of poor analysis can prove to be far more catastrophic than those of the Programmer.

and it’s always wrong.’ (cited in Lejk & Deeks, 2002) This could not apply more to the questions raised in systems analysis. The role of the Systems Analyst is a very complex one which lays the foundation for the whole project of developing a piece of software. As with any situation, if the foundation is not firmly and properly laid out, the whole structure will collapse. It is maintained, by Lejk and Deeks (2002), that ‘The most common reason for a new system to fail is that of poor communication somewhere along the software development process.’

Interpersonal relationships are not often a primary requirement of the Programmer. The job can sometimes tend to be a lonely and frustrating one. Given the complexity of modern software design, it is inevitable that code, the underlying instructions for software programs, will often contain errors, or bugs as they are known. Even software and technology giants such as Microsoft are not immune to this problem. Recently, the SQL Slammer worm (similar to a virus in that it interferes with the normal use of a com

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