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Ben Halpern Subscriber for CodeNewbie

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How Did You Bounce Back from Failed Coding Attempts?

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)

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calinzbaenen profile image
Calin Baenen

I use the microtransactions to allow myself to try again. 🙃

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amarondev profile image
Amar Gupta

🤣🤣🤣

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fadygrab profile image
Fady GA 😎 • Edited

Sleep it off 😁
Sometimes I can be too tired to think straight. I rest a bit and have another go.

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ryencode profile image
Ryan Brown • Edited

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.

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nisarjohnysins

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.

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muees99 profile image
Muees A.

I just shot down, meditate and sleep it off .

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amarondev profile image
Amar Gupta

🤣🤣🤣

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sircommy profile image
Catalin

That makes total sense

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peterwitham profile image
Peter Witham

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.

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thecheapaudiophile profile image
Griff Polk

Tried something totally different.

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soumyadeepdey profile image
Soumyadeep Dey ☑️

Yess

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ammarabutalip profile image
Ammar Abutalip

I start working on side projects rather than stick to company’s ones