Destined to fail - Software development pessimism

It may be slightly pessimistic to say but, are professional software developers and programmers on a futile path to failure?

Its inevitable that an application will fail in some way,  and thus an unwritten rule of software development.

There will always be bugs.

As a professional solution developer for about a decade now I've developed a thick skin to the bugs, yes it's annoying but, necessary and frankly I should be thankful that perfection is impossible thus ensuring more work.

But it does lead me to ask a couple of key questions.

1. How can we reduce bugs?
2. What is the measure of a successful application?

1. From my experience the key incubators for software, solution, application bugs can be attributed to the following factors.

• Poor requirements gathering / problem analysis 
• Incomplete specification
• Scope / spec creep
• Unrealistic time frames
• Inadequate testing

2. I would argue that this maybe slightly harder to quantify  but I think it is a good start to consider the following markers.

• A satisfied customer
• Makes their task easier
• Impresses them
• They enjoy using it
• Repeat business
• Could it do this as well?
• Customer recommendations

I don't profess to be an expert but my experience as highlighted some areas  but what do you think?

So, what is the measure of a successful application?