How to Find Bugs in Systems That Don't Exist - Hillel Wayne | SSW 2026

Hillel Wayne explains how to use formal methods to find design flaws in systems before writing any code.

Abstract: Building correct distributed systems takes thinking outside the box, and the fastest way to do that is to think inside a different box. One different box is “formal methods”, the discipline of mathematically verifying software and systems. Formal methods teaches us to see a system through three different perspectives: the abstract specification behind the system, the environment it assumes, and the properties it should and shouldn’t have. Rather than gradually learning these perspectives from months of using formal methods, we will instead learn them through a forty-ish minute conference talk. Hillel Wayne: hillelwayne.com Logic for Programmers: logicforprogrammers.com Software Should Work: softwareshould.work Thank you to our Software Should Work 2026 sponsors: Antithesis: antithesis.com RWX: rwx.com Paytient: paytient.com Redbud VC: redbud.vc ParadeDB: paradedb.com