A method of programming electrical fuses reliably is disclosed. If a programming current exceeds a critical current, disruptive mechanisms such as rupture, thermal runaway, decomposition, or melt, can be a dominant programming mechanism such that programming is not be very reliable. Advantageously, by controlled programming where programming current is maintained below the critical current, electromigration can be the sole programming mechanism and, as a result, programming can be deterministic and very reliable. In this method, fuses can be programmed in multiple shots with progressive resistance changes to determine a lower bound that all fuses can be programmed satisfactorily and an upper bound that at least one fuse can be determined failed. If programming within the lower and upper bounds, defects due to programming can be almost zero and, therefore, defects are essentially determined by pre-program defects.