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Category: AWS BugBust Blog

  • AWS BugBust Challenges Developers to Set World Record for Bug Busting at re:Invent 2021

    AWS BugBust Challenges Developers to Set World Record for Bug Busting at re:Invent 2021

    Software bugs are irksome, time-consuming and can be one of the most expensive software development costs for any company on an ongoing basis. Software Testing News cited a study that found the cost of poor software quality in the United States alone was estimated to be $2.8 trillion dollars. Let that sink in. $2.8 trillion dollars. And 18.22% of that cost was technical debt. Pair that with the fact that Watts Humphrey1 estimated in his book, A Discipline for Software Engineering, that, on average, software developers make 100 to 150 errors for every thousand lines of code.

    Suffice it to say that the costs of poor software quality are significant.

    Welcome to the First Annual AWS BugBust re:Invent Challenge

    AWS is making a commitment to help software teams around the world improve software quality with their global AWS BugBust Challenge. The first annual AWS BugBust re:Invent Challenge is right around the corner.

    The challenge, taking place from November 29, 2021 at 10 a.m. PST through December 2, 2021 at 2 p.m. PST, enlists Java and Python developers to collectively fix bugs and eliminate technical debt using Amazon CodeGuru. Within this time frame, registered participants across the globe—participating virtually—and those present onsite at the BugBust Hub at the AWS re:Invent Expo, can compete to fix as many bugs as possible to win prizes, glory and claim the title of the Ultimate AWS BugBuster. For each bug that you fix, you receive points based on the complexity of the bug. The more bugs you fix, the more points you will gain and the higher you will climb up the AWS BugBust Leaderboard. The live leaderboard will track each participant’s progress and showcase the number of bugs fixed and points received.

    Be a Part of Setting a Bug-Busting World Record

    At re:Invent, AWS also is looking to set a Guinness Book of World Records record for the largest code-fixing challenge ever. To date, there are no existing records for an event of this kind. Fix at least one bug to qualify to be part of setting the Guinness record. You can join onsite or online. Be part of the excitement of trying to set a world record while winning prizes and gaining recognition!

    Milestone Prizes

    While developers will go head-to-head to win the title of the Ultimate AWS BugBuster, they will also have the opportunity to win prizes for their milestone achievements. The Grand Prize will be $1,500 in cash. 

    There will be five key milestones that developers will be working towards:

    • First milestone—1 point—AWS BugBuster Fly Swatter
    • Second milestone—50 points—AWS BugBust branded sanitizer (BugSpray)
    • Third milestone—150 points—AWS BugBust glow-in-the-dark Bug Jar
    • Fourth milestone—300 points—AWS BugBust hoodie
    • Fifth milestone—500 points—AWS BugBust branded Echo Dot
    • Grand prize—$1,500 for the top BugBuster

    In addition to the milestone prizes, all developers who have contributed toward setting the record for the world’s largest code-fixing challenge will receive an exclusive AWS certificate. The bugs fixed at this live event will count toward the global total which the AWS BugBusting team will have front and center at the event.

    AWS BugBust Hub

    The BugBust Live Challenge will be hosted in the BugBust Hub. The Hub will provide a fun and relaxing environment for developers to fix bugs and ask questions of the AWS BugBust SWAT team as they get started on the BugBust Live Challenge. Not on-site at AWS re:Invent? No worries—developers can still participate and win prizes virtually, too!

    For more information and to pre-register for the AWS BugBust re:Invent Challenge, please visit the AWS BugBust website.

    1 Known as “the father of software quality,” Watts S. Humphrey is the author of numerous influential books on the software development process and software process improvement. Humphrey is a fellow of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University, where he founded the Software Process program and provided the vision and early leadership for the original capability maturity model (CMM). He also is the creator of the personal software process (PSP) and team software process (TSP). He was awarded the National Medal of Technology―the highest honor given by the president of the United States to America’s leading innovators.

  • Gotta Fix ‘Em All: AWS BugBust 2021

    Gotta Fix ‘Em All: AWS BugBust 2021

    Software bugs are vexing. Code reviews and error finding aren’t a particularly fun part of a developer’s job description. Finding bugs is tedious, time-consuming and hard on your eyes. Bugs not only wreak havoc on your code, they wreak havoc on your day. But what if bashing bugs could earn you a payoff greater than pride? That’s where AWS BugBust comes in.

    AWS BugBust is the world’s first global competition for Java and Python developers. The contest has two overall goals:

    1. Fix 1 million bugs and
    2. Reduce technical debt by over $100M, globally

    Code reviews and monitoring are common practice; some organizations even hold bug bashes where members come together to reveal bugs and fix them. However, fixing code is still an arduous process and there is more that could be done to make bug-bashing efforts fun and fast. AWS BugBust does both by adding in gamified points/competition/prize components!

    How does AWS BugBust work?

    The more bugs you fix, the more points you earn and the higher up in the leaderboard you get. Using Amazon’s CodeGuru, developers will compete to fix the most bugs (identified by CodeGuru Reviewer) and the most expensive lines of code (highlighted by CodeGuru Profiler). Amazon CodeGuru eases the pain of code review and error finding by automating the process. Using Machine Learning, Amazon CodeGuru will scan code quickly, identify errors and provide fix-it recommendations.

    Here is more info about the contest:

    How do you earn points?

    AWS BugBust uses Amazon CodeGuru Reviewer to analyze applications’ code to identify bugs and CodeGuru Profiler for performance issues. The bugs and profiling groups are available on the challenge dashboard and are available for participants to claim them, fix, and score points. Points are earned based on the severity of the bug (low, medium, and high)

    To score points, participants make code changes in their repositories, create a code review request, and trigger a code build. CodeGuru Reviewer will analyze the code changes as part of the build process and notify whether the code that was changed addressed the bug.

    The collective number of bugs fixed and dollars saved will be stored in the AWS Global BugJar. The totals for both metrics will show on the global leaderboard.

    Participants will receive digital badges and bespoke swag at three key milestones: 100, 2,000, 10,000 bugs fixed. Swag includes pins, t-shirts, BugJars, backpacks, and hoodies/jackets.

    When will AWS BugBust take place?

    The contest will launch Thursday, June 24. You can get started by setting up an AWS BugBust for your team.

    What’s the ultimate prize?

    The top ranking developers of the global leaderboard by the end of September 30, 2021 will receive an all-expense-paid trip to re:Invent 2021. AWS will also award the top 10 enterprises who collectively contribute the most bugs to the global BugJar through their private events with two tickets to re:Invent 2021 for their top BugBusting developers. If you’re a Java/Python developer, this competition will be like doing your job while enjoying a game-like atmosphere!

    Here are important rules:

    1. An AWS account is required to participate in the challenge (participants can create one at the beginning of the challenge or any time during the contest period).
    2. Customers who have their code bases in Java and/or Python and stored in supported GitHub, GitHub Enterprise, Bitbucket and AWS CodeCommit repositories are able to participate in the AWS BugBust.
    3. Challenge registration and console experience, overall, are much better on the desktop. Links in the console will direct to code repositories which are more easily accessible on the desktop, as well. Mobile placements will be considered for awareness, but desktop should be prioritized.

    AWS BugBust isn’t your grandma’s bug hunt. You now have machine learning capabilities on your side, including the ability to automatically find bugs for you and present the list of bugs to you – even before the challenge begins. You can make the arduous inspection process fun, win some prizes, be the hero at busting bugs and find them, starting June 24!

    We have also provided additional information about the AWS BugBust competition on devopsy.kinsta.cloud.