Biggest programming pet peeve
Since Stephen pointed out that I'm not alone in my programming nightmare, I thought I would geek out and share my programming pet peeve.
When the kind of code I write (ASP) generates an error Internet Explorer, you get a generic "page cannot be displayed" message. (You can set your preferences so that you get a real error, but the generic error is the default).
Sometimes my clients call me to tell me they have an error. It goes like this.
Client: I'm getting this error. It says "Internal Server Error..."
Me: Okay, no problem. Tell me what you were doing when you got the error.
Client: The error says "Page cannot be displayed"
Me: I know. It's a generic error. What did you
Client (reading): "This page cannot be displayed. This may be due to
Me: No wait - I don't need to know what the error says
Client: "an internal server error or
Me: Yeah, that's a generic error it
Client: "the web page may not be available. Check
Me: ...
Client: "with your service provider for more information."
Me: ...
Client: ...
Me: ...
Client: So what's causing that?
It's my own fault. I condition these people to read errors to me like they're holy scripture. So here I sit, waiting out the last few lines of the default message that doesn't tell me JACK about how to fix their problem. And then I say, slowly so they'll understand:
"Thanks for reading that to me. Unfortunately, that doesn't tell me much. Can you tell me what you were doing when you got the error?"
Usually that works and we get the problem resolved in 30 seconds, but sometimes not.
The other day, I had already figured out what the problem was and was on my way to fix it while the guy continued to recite even more information about the error in my ear:
Client: "Microsoft has a knowlegebase that can help you determine the cause of this error. If you'd like to search the knowledge base, click here." There's a web link. Do you want the web link?
Me: Dude, it's already fixed.
Client: Really?
Me: Yep.
Client: Wait, I'll try it.
Me: ....
Client: Wow! It is fixed! Thanks!
AND NOW FOR THE GOOD PART......
Client: Jeez, you're the greatest.
~fine~
When the kind of code I write (ASP) generates an error Internet Explorer, you get a generic "page cannot be displayed" message. (You can set your preferences so that you get a real error, but the generic error is the default).
Sometimes my clients call me to tell me they have an error. It goes like this.
Client: I'm getting this error. It says "Internal Server Error..."
Me: Okay, no problem. Tell me what you were doing when you got the error.
Client: The error says "Page cannot be displayed"
Me: I know. It's a generic error. What did you
Client (reading): "This page cannot be displayed. This may be due to
Me: No wait - I don't need to know what the error says
Client: "an internal server error or
Me: Yeah, that's a generic error it
Client: "the web page may not be available. Check
Me: ...
Client: "with your service provider for more information."
Me: ...
Client: ...
Me: ...
Client: So what's causing that?
It's my own fault. I condition these people to read errors to me like they're holy scripture. So here I sit, waiting out the last few lines of the default message that doesn't tell me JACK about how to fix their problem. And then I say, slowly so they'll understand:
"Thanks for reading that to me. Unfortunately, that doesn't tell me much. Can you tell me what you were doing when you got the error?"
Usually that works and we get the problem resolved in 30 seconds, but sometimes not.
The other day, I had already figured out what the problem was and was on my way to fix it while the guy continued to recite even more information about the error in my ear:
Client: "Microsoft has a knowlegebase that can help you determine the cause of this error. If you'd like to search the knowledge base, click here." There's a web link. Do you want the web link?
Me: Dude, it's already fixed.
Client: Really?
Me: Yep.
Client: Wait, I'll try it.
Me: ....
Client: Wow! It is fixed! Thanks!
AND NOW FOR THE GOOD PART......
Client: Jeez, you're the greatest.
~fine~
posted by babyoog at 6:17 AM
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1 Comments:
here is a doozie: Can't use an undefined value as a HASH reference at /home/elearn/mq_prod//MUOTF/otf.pm line 1933
It's in a Perl script that is close to 5000 lines long that integrates our student system and on-line leaning system. The error occurred about 5 function calls deep and we had very little to go on to locate it.
We first had the problem on Wednesday night. We solved it at 2am on Sunday morning. 30,000 Students arrive at 9am on Monday morning wanting to get into their on-line units.
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