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This is a context where people are used to seeing errors that they don't know what to do with. If a web app pops a well written error it is much more likely to

This is a context where people are used to seeing errors that they don't know what to do with. If a web app pops a well written error it is much more likely to be acted on than an unmotivated dev seeing a some (probably badly formatted) text. Every time I see an error in terminal with a link to documentation I'm delighted. And surprised.

nerdponx 4y ago
So? That's no excuse for a developer to disregard the content of an error message in their own application.
- lijogdfljk 4y ago
  It kinda is. Kinda like when documentation is so repeatedly outdated and incorrect, that when you need new information you just skip documentation entirely. Are you wrong for skipping documentation? Yea, maybe. Is it entirely expected? Yea. Based on the parent comment, at least.
- monknomo 4y ago
  And yet developers do disregard the content of error messages. Try to figure out why they disregard it. I doubt the answer is "because they're stupid". The answer probably also isn't "because they just aren't trying". What could it be? Why do people read things and react in similar ways, even if they have different jobs? If only there was some field of study that could answer these mysteries.
Kalium 4y ago
Once upon a time, I worked at a financial startup (the company is irrelevant). I created a little harness around a static analysis tool. It would fail builds when a library had an outstanding vulnerability scored as HIGH or SEVERE with a patch available. The harness put a friendly error message around it. It ran roughly as follows: > Hi! If you're reading this message, it's likely because this tool failed your build. To understand why and fix it, please click this link <link_to_internal_doc>. Below is a table that lists the packages you need to update and the version you need to update them to. The doc had at the very top in big flashing red text with siren anigifs a link to the portion that explained that they needed to update their libraries with very clear copy-paste-into-Dockerfile actionable guidance. The page also explained the broader context, such as the point of the tool and why we were doing this despite having a firewall and so on. This is where you might be delighted and surprised. What was perhaps less delightful and surprising were the consequences for me. About 4-6 times a week, I would then have a Slack conversation akin to this: Dev: Why did you break my build!?! Me: Can I see the error message? Dev: <pastes message above> Me: Thanks! Looking at the message, is there something unclear about the documentation? Does it not work? <ten minutes pass> Dev: Nope! Docs are great! At this point the conversation would end.

nerdponx 4y ago

So? That's no excuse for a developer to disregard the content of an error message in their own application.

lijogdfljk 4y ago
It kinda is. Kinda like when documentation is so repeatedly outdated and incorrect, that when you need new information you just skip documentation entirely. Are you wrong for skipping documentation? Yea, maybe. Is it entirely expected? Yea. Based on the parent comment, at least.
monknomo 4y ago
And yet developers do disregard the content of error messages. Try to figure out why they disregard it. I doubt the answer is "because they're stupid". The answer probably also isn't "because they just aren't trying". What could it be? Why do people read things and react in similar ways, even if they have different jobs? If only there was some field of study that could answer these mysteries.

Kalium 4y ago

Once upon a time, I worked at a financial startup (the company is irrelevant). I created a little harness around a static analysis tool. It would fail builds when a library had an outstanding vulnerability scored as HIGH or SEVERE with a patch available. The harness put a friendly error message around it. It ran roughly as follows: > Hi! If you're reading this message, it's likely because this tool failed your build. To understand why and fix it, please click this link <link_to_internal_doc>. Below is a table that lists the packages you need to update and the version you need to update them to. The doc had at the very top in big flashing red text with siren anigifs a link to the portion that explained that they needed to update their libraries with very clear copy-paste-into-Dockerfile actionable guidance. The page also explained the broader context, such as the point of the tool and why we were doing this despite having a firewall and so on. This is where you might be delighted and surprised. What was perhaps less delightful and surprising were the consequences for me. About 4-6 times a week, I would then have a Slack conversation akin to this: Dev: Why did you break my build!?! Me: Can I see the error message? Dev: <pastes message above> Me: Thanks! Looking at the message, is there something unclear about the documentation? Does it not work? <ten minutes pass> Dev: Nope! Docs are great! At this point the conversation would end.