[z3t4]

I think the most effective way to find a bug in a program is to demo it in-front of a crowd. Or let grandpa use the program. Jokes aside, I think the most effective way to catch bugs is to have many people read (and understand) the code, and also have many users hit the code paths, most bugs will reveal themselves given enough time. Well used/tested code is often referred to as "hardened".

You wanted to find the bugs before shipping it to users, and that is also what I used to pursue, but when you let a ton of users hit your code, they will find the issues way faster then you could. It's however important to log, and debug all errors, and have a channel for users to submit issues. Sure it will be annoying for the user when he/she stumbles on a bug, but you will regain the goodwill when you fix his/her issue. In most software, even today, users are used to wait months, and even years, or infinitely, to have a bug/issue fixed. So it's a lot of "WOW! Thanks" And very little "I will sue your ass". Bugs, if you do actually fix them, will have a net positive effect.