Failure is a natural part of coding. Share an experience where a coding project or attempt didn't go as planned. How did you handle the setback, and what did you learn from the experience?
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Top comments (12)
I use the microtransactions to allow myself to try again. 🙃
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Sleep it off 😁
Sometimes I can be too tired to think straight. I rest a bit and have another go.
College CS first semester: Early FORTRAN (or was it Pascal?) programming on the college mainframe in the introductory CS programming class.
Learning about files and directories (NOT FOLDERS! - I was a Mac boy at the time and the terminology was... different) saving and accounts.
The Setback™ was loops. Of the never ending variety. There was no way to interrupt my terminal once the code started. I needed to humble myself and walk out of the basement (all our CS labs were in the basement away from the light) to the IS department's server room. Enter the dimly lit NOC where the two on duty Sysadmins were stationed outside the cold room in a slightly raised, very commanding console desk. It was very Cyberdyne-esq. I told them my name, my account name and what I had done. Sly smiles and they terminated the process.
It took a couple more trips for me to really learn my lesson :D
I ended up working there for my practicum and then again on a 1 year contract tough.
edit to add:
Handled it? Felt like a fool, perhaps it was a start of some determination to know more and do better.
What did I learn? At the time... loops. Guards against forever loops. Looking back: probably read the mainframe manual as directed by the instructor (though it was a 5'x4' shelf of books that was rather intimidating) and figure out how to terminate the terminal process myself, secondly the gate-keeping nature of the passive intimidation of where we were kept, (in the basement) and how the NOC was kept an inhospitable place for outsiders. The wizards kept their secrets jealously and disdained interlopers into the inner sanctum.
Absolutely, failure is a key aspect of coding. Once, I was working on a complex coding project that involved integrating multiple APIs. Despite careful planning, my code didn't produce the expected results. It was frustrating, but I took a step back, reviewed my code, and sought help from online communities. Through discussions and trial and error, I identified a few logic errors and inconsistencies.
I just shot down, meditate and sleep it off .
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That makes total sense
I will switch projects, or just leave it alone for a couple of days and come back to it hoping for a fresh take on the problem.
Tried something totally different.
Yess
I start working on side projects rather than stick to company’s ones