Developer finds 20+ hidden bugs in Rust framework by translating code into UML diagrams

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A developer auditing their own Rust web framework, Runique v2.1.21, discovered over 20 latent bugs — including three security-relevant ones — by systematically translating the codebase into UML and Merise diagrams. The bugs had gone undetected by the Rust compiler, automated tests, and runtime tracing tools, highlighting the limits of local, per-function analysis. The approach was inspired by reading a design patterns book, where the developer noticed that UML class diagrams and Rust's type system encode the same structural information in different notations. By treating the translation between the two as nearly mechanical, any mismatch between the diagram and the code revealed a potential defect hiding in the gap. The developer used AI assistant Claude to help verify each translation against the actual source code line by line.

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