Have you ever been in this situation?

I want to share this experience I had yesterday with my team lead.

Yesterday, I was fixing a bug and the ticket was due to be closed. My team lead asked me for feedback on the status of the bug and I outlined that I had fixed the bug except for a particular edge case that had been really difficult to solve.

Now in this situation, I was trying to ask for help and at the same time trying not to sound incompetent in the event that there was a really simple solution to that edge case that I should have known about.

He then outlines possible 3 steps I could take to debug the problem. I scan the steps and they look like steps i've already taken. So I dismissed his suggestions.

Only to be asked a question that forced me to read the steps again and realize that one item on the list is something I never tried and actually was instrumental in my fixing the bug eventually.

Moral lesson: when you have a team, make use of your team. Bounce ideas off them, collaborate, keep the learning mindset. Sometimes you may be too exhausted to give a shit but when you're settled once again, reinitiate the conversation and re-read.

It's something I think we developers need to be reminded of more often.

Happy Collaboration.

Anthony Chukwujekwu.