>>>>... I think people complaining here (e.g. about vfp9) make less bugs in their own programs than those who do not complain.
>>>
>>>How is complaining, in this context, an indicator for the number of bugs in one's programs?
>>
>>Well, my hypothesis (that needs to be statistically tested) is that people who complain about bugs have a more negative opinion about bugs than those who do not complain. They also have less esteem of people who create bugs. And as a consequence they try harder to prevent bugs in their own programs, because each self-created bug lowers their self-esteem.
>
>I'll have to disagree with you. I've seen too many messages over the years where people bitterly complained about some VFP bug that was, in fact, not a VFP bug at all, but a bug in their own code.
>
>Tamar

I see two factors here:
1 An opinion about bugs: Negative or positive. Are they always bad or are they inevitable.
2 A locus of control: Either internal or external. Blame oneself or others.

Persons with a negative opinion about bugs and an internal LC will first of all suspect that a bug was created by themselves and only later suspect that colleagues or the developers of the programming language are the ones to blame.

Persons with a negative opinion about bugs and an external LC will first of all suspect that colleagues or the developers of the PL are the ones to blame and only later suspect that a bug was created by themselves.

A person with a positive opinion about bugs will neither blame oneself nor blame the developers of the PL, no matter whether the LC is internal or external.

I'm sure that some who complained here are the ones who have an external LC. But I'm also sure that others have suspected themselves first and for all, and only later admitted to themselves that they were perhaps not to blame, but rather the PL. Starting a thread here was then their way of validating/falsifying their impression.

Your finding that too many complainers were wrong afterall, that is, were responsible for the bug afterall, may be the result of the presence of the ones with an external LC. But it may also be an indication that the level of knowledge also has influence on the decision to blame oneself or others.

Far more people have an internal LC. This is established by psychological research. If the percentages are also true for the people who complained here about bugs in the PL, then most of the complainers here have first and for all suspected themselves and only later suspected the PL. Hence my hypothesis.