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A lesson in useful failure

A computer science course turns a frightening failure into a chance to learn how systems behave.

De-frightening failure
Computer ScienceDe-frightening failurePhoto: University of Waterloo / original source page

A Waterloo computer science story follows how a failure became part of the teaching, making room for students to see the gap between a clean example and a real system.

That is a good summer lesson for any builder: the bug is information, the reset is part of the work and the next attempt should make the evidence easier to read.

Sources 1
  1. Original reporting · uwaterloo.ca
Next · p.20The community work behind searchA Waterloo computer scientist is being recognized for building a more generous research community.

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This story is from the August 2026 issue of Alumni Digest · Waterloo. It's free, monthly and independent.

Alumni Digest is independent and is not an official University of Waterloo publication. Stories summarize the public reporting linked under each piece; photographs belong to the credited sources and remain under rights review.