We all use software and we all get frustrated when it doesn’t work, right? Well it happened to me just a few days ago. I was trying to set up a new function in aXcelerate and got an error. This was a function that passed all tests in Testing but did not work in Live. This bug came down to a small difference between the original (working) code and the updated code. Can you spot the difference (mistake) between the following two sets of code?

Here is the original code with the mistake:

Now here’s the updated code:

Did you spot the difference? No? Fair enough, that’s a little challenging…how about we give you the line of code that had the difference.   See if you can spot the difference now:

Original code:

Updated code:

Did you spot the difference the second time? That’s correct, the whole function didn’t work in the LIVE environment with the original code due to a single space missing between the symbol ‘>’ and the word ‘ELSE’.

The factor that made this bug initially work in our TESTING environment but not work in LIVE is that Microsoft had a bug in their SQL Server database product which allowed the first version of the code to work in our TESTING environment, but not in our LIVE environment using Microsoft’s updated (fixed) version of the database product.

So, next time you encounter a bug in our RTO software…or in any software, spare a thought for the  amazing developers who make it all work…eventually!

Reay Mackay, Managing Director, aXcelerate