Debugging is the bane of many a computer programmer’s existence — a task that’s both immensely costly and time-consuming. For a start, locating the source of a software error, or bug, is “like finding a needle in a haystack,” says Abhik Roychoudhury, a Provost's Chair Professor of Computer Science at NUS Computing.

If you like to dabble in exercise — whether as a weekend warrior, Ironman contender, or somewhere in between — you might remember 2015 as being an exciting year. Fitbit announced it was going public, Apple launched its first smartwatch, and the market became filled with a glittering array of swanky yet functional fitness devices you could comfortably wear on your wrist.

Just as we hurry about the day paying little attention to the sky above us and its fluffy white inhabitants, we pay the same careless heed to the clouds of computers distributed across various datacentres around the globe.

Today’s world moves at such a breakneck speed that it has transformed us into a society that loathes to wait. Online deliveries turn up at our doorsteps in two hours or less, credit card applications are approved near-instantaneously, and nobody has to wait a week anymore after an episode’s cliffhanger ending. Minimal delays is the name of the game — and we expect the same from our devices too.