Assertions
From Conservapedia
Assertions are used in software development to detect bugs before software is released. An assertion checks that a desired condition is true, and the program stops if that condition is false. In Java, the line number of the offending statement is automatically printed, along with the line number and method name of each item in the call stack.
- Tony Hoare "published a series of papers on the use of assertions to prove correctness of computer programs." [1]