The Elevator Bug: A Debugging Story

I've been battling a bizarre bug for the past few weeks. My server program maintains a persistent connection to another service, authenticates end users, and performs a series of data operations. For some reason, the program occasionally loses its socket connection. It doesn't happen frequently, but it's not rare either - after some time, the machine running the service becomes resource-exhausted and unresponsive due to accumulated unhandled requests.

This problem was driving me crazy; I couldn't identify the source, and all my time was consumed by this issue, alternating between watching the service before it completely crashed and restarting it, while analyzing the code back and forth. Here's the code that was causing me so much trouble...

Wait a minute. This isn't my office. I'm not sitting at my desk. The computer isn't nearby. Where the hell am I?

There are people all around. It's noisy. It looks like a party. Hey, why are my hands wet? Oh, look, it's a drink; dark, translucent, looks like a cola. Yes, it's cola. It's cold but without ice cubes. The white napkin is soaked through, and its edges are shredded by my fingers, so I must have been here for a while.

Yes, now I remember. This is a company colleague's gathering that Dan invited me to. Someone's 40th or maybe 50th birthday. I can't remember. Dan is a nice guy, but our personalities are quite different - he's a chatterbox. I guess he used to sell insurance.

Fortunately, I don't need to wear a suit here. And I don't need to dress like that idiot by the elevator. Seriously, why wear a hoodie to a party?

Anyway, who cares. He already pressed the elevator button, so he's probably planning to leave. Oh no, buddy, stop checking Facebook on your iPhone - the elevator doors are about to close. The lights went out, you missed it. Haha, you're such an idiot, you...

Wow.

Wow.

He's not paying attention. He missed the elevator.

I'll bet you that's the problem in my code. If the remote service goes down while I'm waiting to receive an authentication code, the application doesn't get notified, so it throws an error and the socket is lost.

That's it. Two weeks of torment, and the inspiration to solve the problem came from a company party full of insurance salesmen, a flat cola in my hand, and a shredded napkin.

I should probably leave now and go back to verify my inspiration. But I also don't want to be considered rude... I need to find an opportunity to slip out unnoticed. I can't stay here any longer. I've been tormented by this problem for too long.

Oh, damn. Dan is coming over. He's cheerful, with an older guy following behind him.

Sigh. I guess I can't leave now. Are they really coming to chat with me? Dan, I don't like talking, don't you know that? I pray Dan changes his mind. I can't waste my breath here - this brilliant inspiration might disappear completely by the time I sit down at the keyboard.

Hi, this is your CEO. Oh, really. Nice to meet you. Smiling. Slight bow. Nodding. I must be about to forget that damn elevator and authentication code. Yes, Dan is a nice guy. Oh, he mentioned me to you? What a good person. I'm sure he didn't tell you about that damn bug - you're blocking me from completely solving this problem, and only by solving it can I finally get a good night's sleep.

Finally, they left. I probably messed up that conversation, as usual. They might think I have mental problems or am socially awkward. I really don't care now because I've finally found the cause of that damn bug.

I'd better call the elevator quickly before another genius tries to come waste my time. I won't miss this elevator. I've solved a bug!