Final answer:
Defensive programming involves practices that anticipate and handle potential software errors. Examples include validating user inputs, using assertions for error detection, exception handling with try-catch blocks, incorporating redundancy, and employing unit testing.
Step-by-step explanation:
Defensive programming refers to a range of programming practices aimed at improving software quality and resilience. The aim is to write code that anticipates and handles potential errors or unexpected behaviors. Here are some common examples:
- Checking user inputs for validity before processing them to prevent injections or other types of attacks.
- Using assertions to detect anomalies during development, allowing for early detection of logical errors.
- Implementing error handling code using try-catch blocks to manage exceptions without crashing the program.
- Including redundancy in critical operations to ensure consistent operation despite potential hardware or communication failures.
- Employing unit testing and other automated testing methodologies to verify that the code performs as expected under various conditions.
- Designing the software in a modular way to isolate different components, reducing the impact of a potential bug in one module on the entire system.
These practices contribute to creating more robust and reliable software, ready to deal with unforeseen circumstances in a controlled and predictable manner.