I’m not going to lie. I have no patience. Zero, zip, zilch. So when I’m coding a site I expect myself to do it right the first time. However, some sites are trickier than others – some like to laugh at you in IE6, some like to dance around your jQuery, making it unusable. This usually results in me wanting to throw this Macbook out the miniture office window, kick the PC and scream at the top of my lungs. Really now!
I’ve found that it’s best to leave the office for 30 minutes to calm down and come back for a second take at the problem. Most of the time, this results in me fixing the bug within 5 minutes – even after I had stared at it for 3 hours before the break.
How Do You Keep Your Sanity Amongst Web Bugs?
About the authorI have over 10 years of experience in coding valid and semantic XHTML, CSS and WordPress that is both clean and SEO-friendly. Also a lover of books, interior design and cheesecake! More »
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I agree, walking away and coming back to the problem usually lets you spot errors a lot quicker than you would if you just sat there and stared at the screen.
Sometimes I also find it helps if I try and explain the problem to someone who doesn’t know anything about it. It’s usually a good method for spotting silly mistakes I’ve made.
As a webmaster of a big ecommerce its really a hard job. I have to make sure bugs rarely occur because I also take pictures, supply customer service, watch analytics, email (html), working on graphics, and always watching the SEO.
When there is a bug I react the same way, but I have multiple jobs to do so I just get myself involved in another project and come back to it later. Lucky I haven’t had any major bugs lately!.
I’m a bit more dogmatic about it.. stubborn really, I will NOT let a stupid browser beat me.. I will wrestle it into submission!
I have multiple tools that I use to see what’s going on and since I have to make sites work in IE6 (corporate stupidity in refusing to upgrade!) I have more than one. I also know what most of IE’s stupid tricks are, so I don’t run into a problem I can’t beat all that often.
Have to agree though, sometimes you absolutely have to walk away and clear your mind, then go back at it.
What I find most annoying is having a page displaying perfectly in 2 or 3 browsers, only to have it look ridiculous in another!!
Whenever I hit bugs with no obvious solution, I tend to make a copy of the page to rip apart. I will remove code and see whether the bug persists. If it does then I remove more. Eventually the error emerges.
I agree with taking a break when you get stuck.
Apparently, we as humans can’t hold our concentration at high levels for any great length of time. I think regular short breaks are beneficial as apposed to less regular long breaks. Even if you have not hit a nasty bug!!