Barbie gets interrupted again

Ok, Barbie, I know you had your heart set on getting that bug fixed, but there's another interruption.

Our system gets translated into other languages. That means someone has to send the words off to the translators. That's me. Actually, it's the tech writer, but I give them to him.

But today's challenge is, a tester wants to test the translation. But we don't have the words back yet.

So I thought we could make some fake translations, half install them, run a compile, pull out the language files, and then undo all our changes. Then send those files to the tester. Will she work out how to install them, do you think?

Turns out yes, she did. Our tester has a Masters degree.

Were you keeping notes on all those procedures, Barbie? We'll probably have to do this again one day. That's right, keep those devices charged.

Barbie gets really fixing

So, we've stopped the error message. Problem solved? Nope, we need to work out what that missing code was supposed to do . Or rather, what the original code would have done if we had originally wanted to do the thing we now want to do. Yeah.

 

What should it do? Clue's in the name. It's named along the lines of "verb - noun", so I guess we just have to verb the noun.

Then it will be lunch time. Didn't you bring lunch? I did. But I do like to treat myself to a bought one sometimes. We rather like spicy Asian food around here. And cake.

Barbie, we are NOT having macarons for lunch. Oh, you were thinking of afternoon treats? Well, that's perfectly sensible.

Barbie gets fixing

Ok, Barbie, back to the original question. The problem is, it can't find a piece of code. So we need to either make the code be there, or make it stop looking.

 

Trying the first one … there we go, I've just added an empty thing that doesn't do anything. It means it won't find a gap. Can you test it for me, Barbie?

 

Yes, testing is your job! We test stuff about every five minutes.

Yes I have a lot of pens. I use them to mark up printouts. The different colours help me think. That one's a stylus too.

Barbie handles an interrupt

OK, Barbie, quick interruption. A tester just found an issue in a patch that's about to go out. But the boss suspects it's been there forever, and so do I.  Testers eh? They just test everything!

I've run through the steps. She's right, the thing does happen, but ... is it a problem?

Let's think about that. 

Shh, I'm thinking. That's part of the job. You think too.

Ok, I've thought about it, and I'm pretty sure this is just "interesting behaviour", not a fault.

Oh, look, I've found it on the issue tracking system - it was reported six years ago. By me. I think that proves that nobody will mind. Case closed!

Can you email all that to the boss? Yes, I know he's sitting right there. Official answers go in writing.

Barbie gets caffeinated

You know how I said we drink tea here? Well, at 10.30, we have coffee. That's just how we do it. Bring your reusable cup, the barista knows what I want.

Are you keeping notes on your iPad, Barbie? Good idea. Never know when you'll want to refer back to something. Hot tip - keep your notes in the cloud. Then you can read them from home.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ...

No seriously, you'll be able to read the same notes on your phone or laptop if you need to. 

Barbie works on a defect

Now we're getting down to it. Check the issue tracking system - next thing on my dashboard is a defect to fix. Looks like, when we connect one of these things to one of those things, the result isn't stable. Why would that be? Ah, when we wrote it, we never expected to be connecting these with those. OK, let's fix it!

I've recreated the issue - I had to get another developer to help me decipher the user-speak.  Before we go on, let's write out the "steps to reproduce", and add that to the issue tracking system. After we're done, this will go through at least one tester, can't have them waste time. Too.

Barbie gets logged on

First things first. Let's check our emails.

Let's see... New procedures for producing beta releases. Cool. Proposed naming for new classes. We'll review that. Work drinks tonight. Yay! 

Oh, self funded work drinks. Ah well. The other kind is pretty rare.

Barbie starts her day

No, Barbie, we are NOT starting the day with fancy coffee. We drink tea around here, strong, and plenty of it. We're going to have to get you a tea mug.

Nice laptop, by the way.

My new intern

I have a new intern at work. She's a software developer. Well, the box says "Game Developer", but I think she should be doing the real stuff, like me.

She's Barbie! First Barbie I've ever had.

OK Barbie, first we're going to have to get you a desk. You can't sit, so this tissue box will do for now.

And lose the headset, we're here to work.