Trial and error
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I'm trial-and-error-ing through some dodgey code written by someone else and edited regularly throughout its 10 years of life by various members of the team. It's infuriatingly fragile. If you put so much as a hair out of line it gets terribly upset and does very strange things. The bulk of what it's driving is far too big and complicated for me to tap into (and too scared of the consequences should I do anything wrong!) so I have no idea what exactly it's complaining about. All I know is that whatever I did since the last time it worked must have been wrong. (I'm only refactoring some code to make error handling more obvious, but even that's not straight forward!) I'm guessing this is a bit like raising an infant. It will throw a tantrum at obscure things that wouldn't upset you at all, but you'll never be able to reason with the child to figure out what's wrong. The good bit about an infant is that it will eventually grow up and learn to reason with you (and talk back and be all smarty-arsed and be totally annoying, of course...) The bad bit is that the growing up thing takes over 10 years. On the other hand, the good bit about coding is that when it goes wrong, and you can't be bothered to figure out what is wrong, you just wipe the whole thing and go back to a blank project to start over. X|
Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...
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I'm trial-and-error-ing through some dodgey code written by someone else and edited regularly throughout its 10 years of life by various members of the team. It's infuriatingly fragile. If you put so much as a hair out of line it gets terribly upset and does very strange things. The bulk of what it's driving is far too big and complicated for me to tap into (and too scared of the consequences should I do anything wrong!) so I have no idea what exactly it's complaining about. All I know is that whatever I did since the last time it worked must have been wrong. (I'm only refactoring some code to make error handling more obvious, but even that's not straight forward!) I'm guessing this is a bit like raising an infant. It will throw a tantrum at obscure things that wouldn't upset you at all, but you'll never be able to reason with the child to figure out what's wrong. The good bit about an infant is that it will eventually grow up and learn to reason with you (and talk back and be all smarty-arsed and be totally annoying, of course...) The bad bit is that the growing up thing takes over 10 years. On the other hand, the good bit about coding is that when it goes wrong, and you can't be bothered to figure out what is wrong, you just wipe the whole thing and go back to a blank project to start over. X|
Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...
PaulowniaK wrote:
The bad bit is that the growing up thing takes over 10 years.
You're obviously not a parent! It takes maybe 10 decades. Cheers, Proud grandfather of 2 (+ about 0.8)
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012
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PaulowniaK wrote:
The bad bit is that the growing up thing takes over 10 years.
You're obviously not a parent! It takes maybe 10 decades. Cheers, Proud grandfather of 2 (+ about 0.8)
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012
:laugh: You're right. And I'm half looking forward to being one, half dreading it ;P
Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...
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I'm trial-and-error-ing through some dodgey code written by someone else and edited regularly throughout its 10 years of life by various members of the team. It's infuriatingly fragile. If you put so much as a hair out of line it gets terribly upset and does very strange things. The bulk of what it's driving is far too big and complicated for me to tap into (and too scared of the consequences should I do anything wrong!) so I have no idea what exactly it's complaining about. All I know is that whatever I did since the last time it worked must have been wrong. (I'm only refactoring some code to make error handling more obvious, but even that's not straight forward!) I'm guessing this is a bit like raising an infant. It will throw a tantrum at obscure things that wouldn't upset you at all, but you'll never be able to reason with the child to figure out what's wrong. The good bit about an infant is that it will eventually grow up and learn to reason with you (and talk back and be all smarty-arsed and be totally annoying, of course...) The bad bit is that the growing up thing takes over 10 years. On the other hand, the good bit about coding is that when it goes wrong, and you can't be bothered to figure out what is wrong, you just wipe the whole thing and go back to a blank project to start over. X|
Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...
PaulowniaK wrote:
It's infuriatingly fragile.
If you put so much as a hair out of line it gets terribly upset and does very strange things.Hey, you won't be blowing $440 million in 45 minutes of faulty trading, so go right ahead and make whatever changes you want! ;P PS. Maybe it would blow more than $440 million, in which case you would be setting a new record!:rose:
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PaulowniaK wrote:
It's infuriatingly fragile.
If you put so much as a hair out of line it gets terribly upset and does very strange things.Hey, you won't be blowing $440 million in 45 minutes of faulty trading, so go right ahead and make whatever changes you want! ;P PS. Maybe it would blow more than $440 million, in which case you would be setting a new record!:rose:
Well, that gives a whole new meaning to a lose-lose situation :laugh:
Full-fledged Java/.NET lover, full-fledged PHP hater. Full-fledged Google/Microsoft lover, full-fledged Apple hater. Full-fledged Skype lover, full-fledged YM hater.
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I'm trial-and-error-ing through some dodgey code written by someone else and edited regularly throughout its 10 years of life by various members of the team. It's infuriatingly fragile. If you put so much as a hair out of line it gets terribly upset and does very strange things. The bulk of what it's driving is far too big and complicated for me to tap into (and too scared of the consequences should I do anything wrong!) so I have no idea what exactly it's complaining about. All I know is that whatever I did since the last time it worked must have been wrong. (I'm only refactoring some code to make error handling more obvious, but even that's not straight forward!) I'm guessing this is a bit like raising an infant. It will throw a tantrum at obscure things that wouldn't upset you at all, but you'll never be able to reason with the child to figure out what's wrong. The good bit about an infant is that it will eventually grow up and learn to reason with you (and talk back and be all smarty-arsed and be totally annoying, of course...) The bad bit is that the growing up thing takes over 10 years. On the other hand, the good bit about coding is that when it goes wrong, and you can't be bothered to figure out what is wrong, you just wipe the whole thing and go back to a blank project to start over. X|
Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...
The first rule of systems design is that what ever you do to fix an existing system will either make the problem worse, or create an entirely new and unanticipated problem. Working on a system you don't understand only increases the odds that your result will be a combination of both outcomes. :-D The single, best solution is to delve into whatever the software is controlling, understand it in depth, and start over - doing it properly (i.e. your way) this time. But you probably don't have the time or budget for that, knowing management... :sigh: Good luck to you! :-D
Will Rogers never met me.