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How to fix bugs in 24 hours or less

dolthub.com

21–30 of 45 posts

Re: How to fix bugs in 24 hours or less

#21
Bug resolution time depends on how familiar a developer is with the system, how complex the issue is and how impactful the bug is. Not everything can be solved in 24 hours. Not everything has to be solved in 24 hours.

Saying that your developers will solve every problem in 24 hours seems like a toxic pr move.

Re: How to fix bugs in 24 hours or less

#22
post #3

Why optimize for this? Some of the worst jobs I’ve had were the ones where a PM would say “drop whatever sprint items you’re working on and immediately context switch to this bug”. Sounds like this is their regular day? And what happens if a bug comes in Friday @ 4pm?

It's implicit but clear from the article they have thought about this. There's an owner responsible for triage and communication on the incoming reports, and somebody responsible for bugfixing, presumably they have some roster where after so many days they switch duty. This limits the context switching to only one (or two) persons at a time. It also sounds they are trying to make everything work in office hours, so when a bug comes in friday afternoon it'll get fixed on monday.

From the article it sounds like a completely different game than what you mention, which I also experienced at times.

Re: How to fix bugs in 24 hours or less

#24

Reminds me of my stint in software. We could easily to these numbers as well. Until we outsourced code production to a country halfway round the globe. Completely changed the dynamics from solving interesting problems in nicely written code, to chasing people around you've never met and never will to fix bugs in 1000+ lines functions, while you know it's an exercise in futility as no doubt there will be lots and lots…

It's physically impossible to convince non-technical managers (or technical managers too far removed from the code) that this is always a one-way decision that cannot ever be remediated. Inevitably, the codebase will corrode and decay until its Git repo becomes a superfund site and has to be fenced off with razor wire festooned with warning signs to keep the newbies away.

"But they're cheaper!"

"Just fix the bugs!"

Etc...

It's. Just. Not. Possible to convince anyone that it's not like hiring a recent immigrant to clean your yard. Sure, their English might not be so good, but they can hold a broom, right? No big deal! Worst case, if they miss a spot, you can just point to it and they'll fix it.

The destruction of code quality is an invisible, insidious thing that can end billion-dollar companies while management whistles all the way to the bank collecting their bonus cheques for yet another awesome quarter.

Re: How to fix bugs in 24 hours or less

#25
post #3

Why optimize for this? Some of the worst jobs I’ve had were the ones where a PM would say “drop whatever sprint items you’re working on and immediately context switch to this bug”. Sounds like this is their regular day? And what happens if a bug comes in Friday @ 4pm?

This is a function of priority: it is saying that existing features working perfectly are more important than new features.

It also should come with a culture of treating bugs like you do a production incident: You do retrospectives and figure out what you can change to your process to reduce the likelihood of the same type of bug happening again. You likely also have a more extensive suite of tests to prevent regressions.

Re: How to fix bugs in 24 hours or less

#26
post #21

Bug resolution time depends on how familiar a developer is with the system, how complex the issue is and how impactful the bug is. Not everything can be solved in 24 hours. Not everything has to be solved in 24 hours. Saying that your developers will solve every problem in 24 hours seems like a toxic pr move.

Yes, that was my reaction as well. I'm still traumatized by an insidious bug in a distributed system that took me around 3 months of nearly exclusive work to diagnose and fix (one-line fix, of course). ENG-168. Never forget.

"How to fix bugs in 24h", LOL.

Re: How to fix bugs in 24 hours or less

#27

Reminds me of my stint in software. We could easily to these numbers as well. Until we outsourced code production to a country halfway round the globe. Completely changed the dynamics from solving interesting problems in nicely written code, to chasing people around you've never met and never will to fix bugs in 1000+ lines functions, while you know it's an exercise in futility as no doubt there will be lots and lots…

It's physically impossible to convince non-technical managers (or technical managers too far removed from the code) that this is always a one-way decision that cannot ever be remediated. Inevitably, the codebase will corrode and decay until its Git repo becomes a superfund site and has to be fenced off with razor wire festooned with warning signs to keep the newbies away. "But they're cheaper!" "Just fix the bugs!" E…

> while management whistles all the way to the bank collecting their bonus cheques for yet another awesome quarter

Assuming that wasn’t the point all along.

Re: How to fix bugs in 24 hours or less

#28
post #21

Bug resolution time depends on how familiar a developer is with the system, how complex the issue is and how impactful the bug is. Not everything can be solved in 24 hours. Not everything has to be solved in 24 hours. Saying that your developers will solve every problem in 24 hours seems like a toxic pr move.

Yes, that was my reaction as well. I'm still traumatized by an insidious bug in a distributed system that took me around 3 months of nearly exclusive work to diagnose and fix (one-line fix, of course). ENG-168. Never forget. "How to fix bugs in 24h", LOL.

Can you elaborate?

Sounds like a hell of a story.

Re: How to fix bugs in 24 hours or less

#29
post #21

Bug resolution time depends on how familiar a developer is with the system, how complex the issue is and how impactful the bug is. Not everything can be solved in 24 hours. Not everything has to be solved in 24 hours. Saying that your developers will solve every problem in 24 hours seems like a toxic pr move.

Cloudflare have been fixing their billing oopsie since Mar 21st.

Some times bugs aren't so much a bug as the anthill.

Re: How to fix bugs in 24 hours or less

#30

Hopefully they pay a decent on-call allowance in the event a bug is reported over the weekend or a public holiday.

Fair enough, especially if structural. I've always felt most comfortable with a work relationship where I don't mind doing some work in evenings or weekends, but where it is also very much ok to do some personal stuff during the weekdays. It's a win for all involved. But that has its limits of course.
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