Its birth generated a great commotion among developers, since no one expected that with that last and simple coding, Max would appear, the bug that would change things at that moment and perhaps forever.
Max was not to blame for being born, but he was happy to be part of a group of tickets inside a control board and although he didn't understand any of it, he was happy just to exist. Perhaps because he received the same joy from the QA engineer who skillfully discovered Max while running some tests. His smile for discovering that mistake somehow passed it on to Max, who lived happily in his new card form.
However, the developers did not see Max with the same smile on their faces. That task was the last task needed to tell the customer that they had successfully completed the months of hard work and that it was time to show the world their great creation, the system was ready. Until Max showed up.
Why today, the developers wondered. It couldn't have happened a few weeks ago when several of the toughest bugs they had to deal with had appeared. However, despite their great annoyance at seeing a new card on their board, red in color and in the shape of a bug, they decided not to give up. It must be something simple to fix, they said. Let's fix this and go celebrate.
Max listened to them talk, at first he wanted to feel bad because they were putting him down. He was not to blame for being born. But he understood that he should feel happy and proud for existing, because there was a reason to be there. I am important, he said to himself.
A mid-level developer, very brave said, I'll fix it. I'll let you know when I'm done. He took Max, read your title and without waiting long, opened the application code and started testing things. He tested and changed and time marched on. After a few hours, his technical lead asked him if he was done, to which the developer replied, I haven't managed to fix it.
Surprised, the technical leader asked his most experienced programmer to help his colleague, thinking he could solve it faster that way. The senior programmer didn't even want to see Max again. He asked his partner what he had done and what was missing, and with that information he continued the job.
Meanwhile, Max was talking to other bugs on the board. They told him everything they had experienced there. Sam, the oldest, with a lot of experience, said: "Boy, here you will find all kinds of bugs, you have to be careful with some of them because they could block you for a long time. Although I think you are one of the ones that they, pointing to the programmers, consider easier. I tell you something kid, that the simple ones, are the worst. The other bugs trembled with those words, but Max told them, don't be afraid, I am harmless, I have only come to enjoy my moment, to be happy.
Hours went by and the two developers kept trying different alternatives to find the reason for the problem. The mail that was supposed to arrive was nowhere to be found, however, the logic looked good, the code was executed, at least that's what they could see when they went through the code, but they didn't understand this behavior.
In the meantime, Max was still chatting with many bugs on the board. He noticed that there were different statuses, he had the status Pending, others said In Progress, there was also a long list in Code Review and QA and finally there were several with the status Closed, and they were, incidentally, the ones who talked the least, in fact Max didn't manage to know anything about them until old Sam explained to him what those statuses meant.
So, said Max, I should be in In Progress status, but why am I still in Pending, to which Sam pointed out that the developers were not in the habit of updating the statuses frequently, which generated confusion among the bugs since they knew they were ready, they were no longer a bug, they were now a useful functionality for the user, but they were still appearing as pending. That's why the bugs in Closed status did not speak, because they could not be related to the bugs, since they had stopped being a bug a long time ago.
Max asked if all the bugs brought a bag like him, he looked curious, but he knew that something could be useful inside it. Sam told him that programmers call them Attachments and he knew that some bugs brought several of those on their backs, some very heavy, but Max's was very small, maybe that's all it takes to fix you. Hearing that, Max said that he was fine being a bug, he didn't want to change. Unfortunately, Sam said, we can't be forever, sooner or later we have to stop being a bug and become a useful feature. We are like butterflies, first they are worms that no one wants and then they become that beautiful flying insect that everyone admires. In our case we are first this ugly bug that everyone complains about and then we will become a great functionality that will help many people.
In his continued curiosity, Max kept asking questions about everything they saw on his board card. Sam, Max said, why do you have that number. Ah this one you see here? Sam replied, it's what the programmers call Estimate. But not everyone has that number, how did you earn it, asked Max. I earned it when I was born, said Sam, a long time ago. If you pay attention you'll see that the older bugs have it, but little by little the programmers stopped assigning it, that's why you don't have it. That estimate was very exciting for us because we had an idea of when a bug would stop being a bug and we celebrated every time that happened. Now, without this value, we don't know when a bug will be resolved.
Despite not having that information, Max couldn't stop smiling, he knew that he had come to this world to change something, to be useful. And that someday he would become that butterfly that Sam said.
The technical leader, concerned about not getting a satisfactory response from his developers, decided to dive in to see what it was about this bug that was keeping the project from finishing. He decided to make a video call with his programmers to hear what they had to say. There was no good news. The technical leader said, let's start at the beginning, did you read the bug correctly? Yes of course, said the mid programmer, it says that the email message is not arriving. And that attachment didn't help," asked the Tech Lead. At that moment there was silence between the two developers.
Neither wanted to talk, until the senior said, I really didn't open the ticket, I assumed my partner had reviewed everything. The other developer apologetically said, I read the title but didn't check the attachments. The Tech Lead, not wanting to further amplify the chaos generated by that bug at the last minute, shared his screen and opened the attachment that the developers had not paid attention to. The QA engineer had attached it to show them the difference between the test environment and the production environment, so that they could quickly make the adjustment to release the entire system as soon as possible.
Stunned, the programmers could not believe what they were seeing in that attachment. The mail server domain had an extra letter, a simple "p", which had been changed at the last minute to make the distinction between development and production and had been defined that way precisely so as not to confuse environments. Quickly the mid developer made the change and informed the QA engineer to try again.
The QA engineer immediately tested and thanked the programmer very much for making the change. The Tech Lead decided to schedule a retrospective meeting to discuss this case and several things that were wrong with the handling of tickets on the job board.
Max was still chatting with Sam and other bugs when he felt something strange. It rose into the air like a butterfly and passed over the other bugs. Always hoping for the best, Max just waved at all the bugs he left behind. The developer, frustrated and angered by what had happened, did not want to see any more of this bug that had caused him a headache and decided to move it on the board as soon as possible.
Max, happy as ever, knew that his status was now different, he had been finalized, he was a butterfly, a useful functionality; but deep down he knew that he would always remain a bug, one that no one would forget.
