28 March 2012
If you were to wander into my office this afternoon…
Posted by Jessica Ball
…this is the scene you’d see playing out.
Me: Okay, I need to change this bit of code to get the program to do this, so let’s make one edit here and…
Fancy Numerical Model: (CRASH)
Me: Oops, if I change that I have to adjust this other input file. So let’s make that change and…
FNM: (CRASH)
Me: Okay, I’ve got it. If I change that variable then I have to adjust this other macro. This will definitely work now.
FNM: (CRASH)
Me: All right, let’s look at the error file and see what’s going on. It should say something useful.
Error file: (BLANK)
Me: Okay, I’ll just run it step-by-step in command line instead of using the executable. Then I can see what’s going on.
Command line screen: TIMESTEP ERROR
Me: It’s always the timestep thing, isn’t it. I can fix this. I can fix this. Easy change, right?
Command line screen: (INCOMPREHENSIBLE GIBBERISH)
Me: (INCOMPREHENSIBLE SWEARING, SOUND OF HEAD IMPACTING THE DESK)
This is about the point when I start to question my sanity in embarking on a project that requires me to deal with code instead of rocks.
Ah yes. That reminds me why I stopped being a programmer.
That’s about the same reaction I have when troubleshooting fellow geomorphology grad students MATLab code, a position I have unfortunately been thrust into since they know I have a previous degree in Comp Sci
Ugh. I’ve days similar to that… not exactly the same, but a similar feeling of frustration. Hang in there!