20
Spent 3 weeks trying to fix a single line of code in our Phoenix office database
Our main reporting tool kept crashing, and I was sure it was a server issue. Turns out, one wrong SQL query was pulling way too much data and choking the system. I finally found it after checking over 200 scripts. Has anyone else had a tiny mistake cause a huge mess like that?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
grant4652mo ago
Used to think all our system problems were software bugs until a power flicker last year. We lost a whole day of orders because a single network switch in the warehouse got unplugged during cleaning, just like @the_jason's crooked sensor. Now I make the team check the physical stuff first, every single time, before we even open a code editor. It saves so many headaches.
10
the_jason2mo ago
Yeah, that "tiny mistake causing a huge mess" thing hits home. We had a weird bug where a pallet scanner kept missing items, and it turned out someone just bumped the sensor a quarter inch out of alignment. Took us a full weekend of double checking the whole inventory system before we saw the physical thing was just crooked.
5
lilychen1mo ago
Hearing @the_jason's story about the crooked sensor makes me realize I used to be the opposite. I worked in a distribution center where we had this weird issue where boxes kept getting stuck in a conveyor chute. I spent two days rewriting routing logic before a mechanic walked over and pointed out a loose bolt was letting the chute droop by an inch. Now I always tell the junior guys to look at the physical setup first, even if the problem looks like code. It's kind of embarrassing how long it took me to learn that lesson.
1