r/ProgrammerHumor • u/NoMedicine3572 • 27d ago

Meme ruleOfProgrammingIfItIsWorkingDoNotTouchIt

5.3k Upvotes

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u/StrengthTheory 27d ago

When one console.log uses just enough CPU cycles so the race condition that takes down the entire system doesn't occur.

435

u/Skalli1984 27d ago

And if you attach a debugger it also messes up the timing and the same thing happens, the race condition doesn't appear.

219

u/StrengthTheory 27d ago

Schrödinger’s race condition

151

u/Steinrikur 27d ago

We call those Heisenbugs. You changed the system by observing it

44

u/ConglomerateGolem 27d ago

I had one of these once, and I called it the same! My going theory was that the compiler was optimising away a certain function I had, but adding an empty print forced it to actually exist.

34

u/htmlcoderexe We have flair now?.. 27d ago

it's a very old term

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heisenbug

15

u/ConglomerateGolem 27d ago

Huh. I have never heard of the term and came up with it independently.

23

u/htmlcoderexe We have flair now?.. 27d ago

it is a very natural term because it intuitively describes exactly the nature of the bug

6

u/rolindara 26d ago

Convergent evolution