AWS BugBust FAQs

Q: What is AWS BugBust?
AWS BugBust is the world’s first global competition for developers to collectively eliminate one million software bugs and an estimated* $100 million in technical debt for their organizations.

*"Estimated dollar savings are calculated by converting points awarded for a bug fix to a dollar equivalent as follows, based on the Systems Science Institute at IBM’s findings that it can cost up to 100 times more to fix a bug, depending on how far in the software lifecycle development the bug is identified, than during the initial design phase (International Journal Of Engineering And Computer Science, Study of Software Quality and Risk Estimation and Quality Cost Analysis using Empirical Study, July 2015): 

For information on how points are awarded, see the Official Rules. Actual savings may vary.” 

Q: What services does AWS BugBust use?
AWS BugBust uses Amazon CodeGuru Reviewer and Amazon CodeGuru Profiler. Amazon CodeGuru Reviewer automatically reviews code, flagging errors in Java and Python code such as concurrency, refactoring, input validation, and AWS best practices, while providing advice and links to documentation on how to fix the issue before the application is deployed to production. Amazon CodeGuru Profiler collects runtime performance data from your live applications and provides recommendations that can help you fine-tune your application performance. Using machine learning algorithms, CodeGuru Profiler can help you find your most expensive lines of code and suggest ways to improve efficiency and remove CPU bottlenecks. 

Q: In which AWS Regions is AWS BugBust available?
AWS BugBust is available in US East (N. Virginia), with additional regions coming soon. For more information, see Regions and Endpoints in the AWS General Reference.

Q: Is my code secure? 
Yes. Please see documentation for code and data protection policies.

Q: What programming languages and source code repositories are supported by AWS BugBust?
AWS BugBust currently supports Java and Python code stored in GitHub, GitHub Enterprise, Bitbucket and AWS CodeCommit repositories.

Q: How is BugBust different from traditional bug bashing?
Code reviews are common practice within organizations, some even holding bug-bashes where members of teams across the organization come together to reveal bugs and fix them. But fixing problematic code can still be an arduous process. AWS BugBust will make the common bug-bashing efforts fun, fast, and more effective at addressing code quality and decreasing technical debt. AWS BugBust utilizes Amazon CodeGuru Reviewer and Amazon CodeGuru Profiler, which use machine learning to automatically review code and provide recommendations to fix bugs and make performance improvements. Developers can spend less time on cumbersome and arduous inspection processes that are critical, and more time having fun innovating and building together.  

Q: How do I get started with AWS BugBust?

To get started, simply log into the AWS Console and with just a few clicks, developers from around the world can join the challenge by creating an AWS BugBust event for their organization. Your points and bug count are automatically added to the AWS BugBust Challenge global leaderboard where you will see your contribution to the global challenge to fix 1 million bugs and save an estimated $100M in tech debt, globally. The more events you run, the more points you can receive for busting bugs. Customers can also request a custom event to be hosted by AWS experts (the AWS BugBusting crew) who will help your talent automate code reviews, set the event's parameters, and custom swag and prizes provided by you. All bug fixes and savings will be tracked via the AWS Management console in your private event leaderboard.

Q: How will BugBust track the global total of bugs fixed and dollars saved?
The developer with the most bugs fixed (with Amazon CodeGuru Reviewer) and most savings discovered (with Amazon CodeGuru Profiler) will win the event, and their total points will be added to the global competition. Organizations will have the ability to privately view their most expensive bugs discovered, most problematic bugs found, and the most common bugs discovered through lists and tables in the console. As bugs are fixed and dollars are saved, the global total will be tracked via the AWS BugBust BugJar. As more events take place, we will work towards the collective goal of reaching 1 million bugs and an estimated $100M in technical debt. The AWS BugBust leaderboard and BugJar currently shows savings from Amazon CodeGuru Profiler only.

Q: What happens after a private event ends at my organization?
You can keep climbing the leaderboard by holding events within your organization or fixing bugs in your day to day code review process, using the BugBust console. There are no limits to the number of events you can participate in. Organizations will have the ability to privately view their most expensive bugs discovered, most problematic bugs found, and the most common bugs discovered through lists and tables in the Amazon CodeGuru Console. The insights captured in these lists will help enterprise customers identify common themes and areas of improvement in their overall code, along with the application performance metrics and visualizations provided by CodeGuru Profiler.

Q: How do I score points?

For both bugs and performance enhancements, a participant (aka BugBuster) creates a pull request with the code fix that address the issue. After the updated code is merged, Amazon CodeGuru Reviewer and Amazon CodeGuru Profiler analyze the update code base. If AWS BugBust no longer detects the original issue that the player attempted to fix, then it considers the issue fixed and awards points to the player. After a player checks in code to improve the performance of a profiling group, the AWS BugBust event administrator evaluates the performance effect of the checked-in code and awards points based on the complexity of fixed bugs and the level of performance improvement on a profiling group. For more information, see official rules. 

Q: How and when do events end?

There is no minimum or maximum event length. For example, it could take 4 hours, or 6 days depending on your repository size and number of bugs found to be fixed. When all the bugs are fixed and/or organizers end the event, each participant’s total number of bugs fixed and cost savings will be added to the global AWS BugBust leaderboard where they can see their contribution to the global challenge to fix 1 million bugs and save an estimated $100M in tech debt, globally

Q: Can I host an AWS BugBust challenge for free?
Yes, the AWS BugBust free tier includes all costs incurred by the underlying usage of Amazon CodeGuru Reviewer and Amazon CodeGuru Profiler 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 tier period. After the 30-day free tier expires, you will be charged for Amazon CodeGuru Reviewer and Amazon CodeGuru Profiler based on your usage in the challenge. 

See AWS BugBust Pricing for more details.