Read the Error Message

All of this is to say: Learn to Read the Error Message.

See: Learn to Read the Source, Luke

Effectively Reading Error Messages: A Key Developer Skill

Transitioning between teams in a time-crunched environment, I recently faced a critical issue that needed resolution to ensure a smooth handover. Amidst this tight schedule, I encountered a stubborn yarn install error on the build server, hinting at an internet connectivity problem. Considering our network’s history with domain restrictions, I initially opted to cache the node_modules in the repository. This led to a series of attempted fixes that unfortunately didn’t solve the issue.

The turning point came when I revisited the build log. Buried in the entries was an error message indicating an inability to access a package from repo.internaldomain.com/artifactory – a network issue I had previously encountered but overlooked this time. In my haste, I had missed this crucial clue. This experience reminded me of the vital importance of carefully analyzing error messages before diving into troubleshooting.

This is all to say taking time out to read an error message carefully when things are broken, can be time well spent.

This is a hard lesson to learn, and while I would like to say this isn’t “the” time I learned it, it was “a” time I had to relearn it.