Comments on: The 4 Types of Emails Programmers Receive http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/2010/03/12/the-4-types-of-emails-programmers-receive/ ASP.NET Developer. ALT.NET Supporter. Pragmatic Programmer. Published Writer. Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:34:08 +0000 hourly 1 By: Anonymous2 http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/2010/03/12/the-4-types-of-emails-programmers-receive/#comment-2104 Anonymous2 Mon, 31 May 2010 13:22:34 +0000 http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/?p=326#comment-2104 Actually, you don't. You and your co-workers will get more and more used to his alertness and will pay less and less attention to them. Until one day, there will be one world-ending issue that will not be corrected in time and someone will get fired. You just can hope that the boss of your boss will agree with you, that your boss asked for it, as making EVERY mail an end-of-the-world one. Actually, you don’t. You and your co-workers will get more and more used to his alertness and will pay less and less attention to them. Until one day, there will be one world-ending issue that will not be corrected in time and someone will get fired. You just can hope that the boss of your boss will agree with you, that your boss asked for it, as making EVERY mail an end-of-the-world one.

]]> By: Malte http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/2010/03/12/the-4-types-of-emails-programmers-receive/#comment-1386 Malte Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:10:31 +0000 http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/?p=326#comment-1386 If you get emails your project probably doesn't qualify for a real service desk like system. If that's the case, pity on you. Most used key on my keyboard is the delete key. If it's not in the bug tracking system, it does not exist and it does not concern me. End of story. Building systems is too costly to waste time on vague reports. If you get emails your project probably doesn’t qualify for a real service desk like system. If that’s the case, pity on you.

Most used key on my keyboard is the delete key. If it’s not in the bug tracking system, it does not exist and it does not concern me.

End of story. Building systems is too costly to waste time on vague reports.

]]> By: RobM http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/2010/03/12/the-4-types-of-emails-programmers-receive/#comment-1359 RobM Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:24:04 +0000 http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/?p=326#comment-1359 If your bug reporters are internal employees where you work it sounds like a great way to be dismissed as "that unhelpful guy who sent me a link to a really long webpage every time I asked him to fix his busted-ass crap". If your bug reporters are internal employees where you work it sounds like a great way to be dismissed as “that unhelpful guy who sent me a link to a really long webpage every time I asked him to fix his busted-ass crap”.

]]> By: Juanjo http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/2010/03/12/the-4-types-of-emails-programmers-receive/#comment-1358 Juanjo Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:31:04 +0000 http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/?p=326#comment-1358 And what about an email with a *screenshot of the logs*? I guess is something between "The Ideal Email" and "I Read Logs With Word". And what about an email with a *screenshot of the logs*?

I guess is something between “The Ideal Email” and “I Read Logs With Word”.

]]> By: halocursed http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/2010/03/12/the-4-types-of-emails-programmers-receive/#comment-1357 halocursed Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:30:53 +0000 http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/?p=326#comment-1357 The best applications engineer I've ever worked with would do this when he encountered a bug: 1. Spend time trying to reproduce the bug. Failing that he would at least provide context. 2. If the bug was reproducible he'd write a detailed description of how to reproduce the bug. This description included the version(s) of software that exhibited the bug. 3. Attach any relevant log files, screen shots or input files. 4. Made himself available for consultation. The best applications engineer I’ve ever worked with would do this when he encountered a bug:
1. Spend time trying to reproduce the bug. Failing that he would at least provide context.
2. If the bug was reproducible he’d write a detailed description of how to reproduce the bug. This description included the version(s) of software that exhibited the bug.
3. Attach any relevant log files, screen shots or input files.
4. Made himself available for consultation.

]]> By: Honza http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/2010/03/12/the-4-types-of-emails-programmers-receive/#comment-1356 Honza Tue, 16 Mar 2010 07:52:22 +0000 http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/?p=326#comment-1356 Hilarious! Hilarious!

]]> By: schnalle http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/2010/03/12/the-4-types-of-emails-programmers-receive/#comment-1353 schnalle Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:56:14 +0000 http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/?p=326#comment-1353 <blockquote>Feature XYZ isn’t working. Please fix.</blockquote> i wish! in reality, this is more common: <blockquote>absolutely nothing works! everythings broken! fix it immediately!!1!1!</blockquote> ... and when you check, everything seems to work fine. then you call the customer, and it turns out there's a broken image link on the imprint-page because the user decided to upload underexposed 3000x2000px photos <i>again</i> (even though you told him last week he shouldn't do that).

Feature XYZ isn’t working. Please fix.

i wish! in reality, this is more common:

absolutely nothing works! everythings broken! fix it immediately!!1!1!

… and when you check, everything seems to work fine. then you call the customer, and it turns out there’s a broken image link on the imprint-page because the user decided to upload underexposed 3000x2000px photos again (even though you told him last week he shouldn’t do that).

]]> By: Snild http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/2010/03/12/the-4-types-of-emails-programmers-receive/#comment-1352 Snild Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:31:48 +0000 http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/?p=326#comment-1352 Actually, the majority of emails I receive are of the type "grow 3 inches right now!" Actually, the majority of emails I receive are of the type “grow 3 inches right now!”

]]> By: Arnoud http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/2010/03/12/the-4-types-of-emails-programmers-receive/#comment-1351 Arnoud Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:27:41 +0000 http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/?p=326#comment-1351 I agree with Eric. I advice to stimulate the users to use #4 more often. They don't have a clue. As u user with some technical skill I use the #4 mail when needed (I try to fix it myself first) and usually I don't get any different response other than that the problem is probably solved faster. Ofcourse this is a good incentive, but I advice to educate the users a little. I agree with Eric. I advice to stimulate the users to use #4 more often. They don’t have a clue. As u user with some technical skill I use the #4 mail when needed (I try to fix it myself first) and usually I don’t get any different response other than that the problem is probably solved faster. Ofcourse this is a good incentive, but I advice to educate the users a little.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/2010/03/12/the-4-types-of-emails-programmers-receive/#comment-1348 Anonymous Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:21:30 +0000 http://www.kevinwilliampang.com/?p=326#comment-1348 My tech lead does the end of the world thing all the time. It's his technique of trying to get his requests serviced first. You don't want to completely ignore them in the off chance that they are important, though that also means non-critical ones are labeled as world-ending ones. Is there a way to correctly respond to these types of emails? and how do you distinguish them apart? My tech lead does the end of the world thing all the time. It’s his technique of trying to get his requests serviced first. You don’t want to completely ignore them in the off chance that they are important, though that also means non-critical ones are labeled as world-ending ones. Is there a way to correctly respond to these types of emails? and how do you distinguish them apart?

]]>