Saturday, April 14, 2007

Who broke the build?

Somebody (I say mom) messed up and David didn’t build (wake up) properly this week. Our CI server (crib) reported (loud cries) a failed build! It seemed like some (most) unit tests have failed and we’ll be able to fix him right up.
First of we identified the failed unit test and found it failing at:

Assert(this.Core.Temperature.ToCelsius() <= 37.5,
"Core temperature to high!");
It’s always nice (sarcasm) to find a bug in your core library. So we re-built a debug version (washed, changed diapers, fed him), enabled tracers and run the standard tests again (went to the pediatrician). The results were inconclusive (“the lab results are inconclusive”) so our team (me and mom) decided (were told to) deploy the application (David) in the debug mode (closely watched) and see what happens (wait).
Of course we did some tweaks to the code (paracetamol, cough syrup, ventolin) and put other projects (work) on standby (dev null). This made a few project managers (bosses) happy (mad). They now had the time to reflect on (yell profanities) and improve (change beyond recognition) their project requirements (an e-mail) to better suit the reality (their imagination).
Eventually we resolved the temperature issue and our daily builds (mornings) are doing fine. The annoying thing is – we have no clue as to what went wrong and who broke the build! This is what they fail to teach you at parenting classes and this is what your parents never got around to tell you. Once your child is born - you will never know solid ground again. All that is certain from now on is the uncertainty. Sudden fevers will scare you, bumps and bruises will have you running to the ER. Coughs will put wild ideas in your head and most cries in the middle of the night will turn out to be yours.

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