New – AWS BugBust: It’s Game Over for Bugs

Today, we are launching AWS BugBust, the world’s first global challenge to fix one million bugs and reduce technical debt by over $100 million.

You might have participated in a bug bash before. Many of the software companies where I’ve worked (including Amazon) run them in the weeks before launching a new product or service. AWS BugBust takes the concept of a bug bash to a new level.

AWS BugBust allows you to create and manage private events that will transform and gamify the process of finding and fixing bugs in your software. It includes automated code analysis, built-in leaderboards, custom challenges, and rewards. AWS BugBust fosters team building and introduces some friendly competition into improving code quality and application performance. What’s more, your developers can take part in the world’s largest code challenge, win fantastic prizes, and receive kudos from their peers.

Behind the scenes, AWS BugBust uses Amazon CodeGuru Reviewer and Amazon CodeGuru Profiler. These developer tools use machine learning and automated reasoning to find bugs in your applications. These bugs are then available for your developers to claim and fix. The more bugs a developer fixes, the more points the developer earns. A traditional bug bash requires developers to find and fix bugs manually. With AWS BugBust, developers get a list of bugs before the event begins so they can spend the entire event focused on fixing them.

Fix Your Bugs and Earn Points
As a developer, each time you fix a bug in a private event, points are allocated and added to the global leaderboard. Don’t worry: Only your handle (profile name) and points are displayed on the global leaderboard. Nobody can see your code or details about the bugs that you’ve fixed.

As developers reach significant individual milestones, they receive badges and collect exclusive prizes from AWS, for example, if they achieve 100 points they will win an AWS BugBust T-shirt and if they earn 2,000 points they will win an AWS BugBust Varsity Jacket. In addition, on the 30th of September 2021, the top 10 developers on the global leaderboard will receive a ticket to AWS re:Invent.

Create an Event
To show you how the challenge works, I’ll create a private AWS BugBust event. In the CodeGuru console, I choose Create BugBust event.

Under Step 1- Rules and scoring, I see how many points are awarded for each type of bug fix. Profiling groups are used to determine performance improvements after the players submit their improved solutions.

In Step 2, I sign in to my player account. In Step 3, I add event details like name, description, and start and end time.

I also enter details about the first-, second-, and third-place prizes. This information will be displayed to players when they join the event.

After I have reviewed the details and created the event, my event dashboard displays essential information, I can also import work items and invite players.

I select the Import work items button. This takes me to the Import work items screen where I choose to Import bugs from CodeGuru Reviewer and profiling groups from CodeGuru Profiler. I choose a repository analysis from my account and AWS BugBust imports all the identified bugs for players to claim and fix. I also choose several profiling groups that will be used by AWS BugBust.

Now that my event is ready, I can invite players. Players can now sign into a player portal using their player accounts and start claiming and fixing bugs.

Things to Know
Amazon CodeGuru currently supports Python and Java. To compete in the global challenge, your project must be written in one of these languages.

Pricing
When you create your first AWS BugBust event, all costs incurred by the underlying usage of Amazon CodeGuru Reviewer and Amazon CodeGuru Profiler are free of charge for 30 days per AWS account. This 30 day free period applies even if you have already utilized the free tiers for Amazon CodeGuru Reviewer and Amazon CodeGuru Profiler. You can create multiple AWS BugBust events within the 30-day free trial period. After the 30-day free trial expires, you will be charged for Amazon CodeGuru Reviewer and Amazon CodeGuru Profiler based on your usage in the challenge. See the Amazon CodeGuru Pricing page for details.

Available Today
Starting today, you can create AWS BugBust events in the Amazon CodeGuru console in the US East (N. Virginia) Region. Start planning your AWS BugBust today.