coding, bugs and depression

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slemmnord
Posts: 46
Joined: Fri Jan 17, 2014 1:04 am

coding, bugs and depression

Post by slemmnord »

Hey!

I know this areas is supposed to be for "fun talk" and this subject is not very fun. Having just reported 3 issues about ME, i feel a bit guilty now.

I take pride in my work (as i'm sure many of you here do) and i design my software carefully. I even don't code and drink at the same time :P
But no matter how hard i try, now and then, errors still creep in. Mostly problems are just users not understanding (due to my bad UI or process design or often also just plain stupid users). Some times there are just bugs from being distracted (a'la "someone called while i was working on a complex change"). And the worst bugs are caused by bad system design -- when in real world the solution is failing and changing it means you have to change the whole architecture... those are the worst kind.
So when bugs get reported.. via coworkers and via ME reports and other sources, it often bugs me (pun intended) personally.. its as if i've done wrong or stupid.. it feels bad and can lead to depression. One or few issues each day is manageable. But some days are disastrous. When reports come in from different areas and different sources at the same time. Then that day (or week) will be ruined and not much work will get done.
Over time i have developed a few strategies to combat this. Both bugs and depression. First is, i've mostly isolated myself from our end-users. We almost never give out my e-mail or phone. Only in cases where my partners are unable to solve cases via consulting me. This helps against angry end-users but of course some important design clues for future get lost this way.
Another strategy is to work at night-time (and set phone to silent during day for sleep). I find myself going to this mode when there are bigger, more complex tasks to complete. It helps against getting distracted by other people around me or calling or e-mail. Of course there are also drawbacks (just wait till you get old :P). Sleeping during days, working nights will affect social and family life.

Anyway... this is a bit of a rant.. sorry about that. I wanted to ask are others dealing with similar issues and how?
Or are they issues at all.. maybe it's just me being overly sensitive :) Also maybe i'm in the wrong place... thought that ME is about bugs though.

Cheers!
madshi
Site Admin
Posts: 10749
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2004 5:25 pm

Re: coding, bugs and depression

Post by madshi »

99.99% of my communication goes through email, which makes things a bit easier for me. Also I mostly talk to other devs, not to end users. Devs tend to know that every software has bugs, which end users often don't understand. I suppose dealing with end users can be frustrating. I do have a couple freeware projects where I'm in contact with end users, but since it's freeware, I suppose they're not as agressive as they might otherwise be.

Fortunately, I personally don't have problems with depression. I guess everybody is different. Maybe it helps if you make yourself clear that even the very best of us make mistakes every day?
slemmnord
Posts: 46
Joined: Fri Jan 17, 2014 1:04 am

Re: coding, bugs and depression

Post by slemmnord »

Well i do understand it but human nature is a funny thing.. you can understand but still it happens.

I think your point about freeware is actually interesting. It's a nice way to get some positive feedback required to balance mean commercial users :D Perhaps i should take up or join some open-source project again. I used to when i had more free time and it was indeed quite another world.
madshi
Site Admin
Posts: 10749
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2004 5:25 pm

Re: coding, bugs and depression

Post by madshi »

Well, to be honest, I don't like the idea of clocking hundreds/thousands of hours of my precious free time for open-source work. What's in it for me? If I create freeware, at least it's mine, and nobody can just copy my work and pretend it's theirs. But I do have the highest respect for open-source developers, especially if they license under LGPL, BSD, MIT type of licenses.

On the other hand, when creating closed-source freeware, there are some users who complain that I don't open-source it, and they call me egoistic because of that. So I do see how this whole business can be frustrating. But for every complainer, there are many more users who appreciate my freeware work, so it's fine.
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