Used to skip error handling in my scripts until a botched import cost me 3 days

I used to just write code that worked on my machine and call it done. Error handling felt like a waste of time for small projects. Then I built a web scraper to pull product data for a friend's side hustle in Portland. It ran fine for 2 weeks then broke overnight because one site changed their HTML slightly. No try-except blocks, no logging, nothing. Took me 3 full days to trace the bug and fix it. Now I always wrap API calls and file reads in try blocks from the start. Has anyone else learned this lesson the hard way?

2 comments

2 Comments

cole_mitchell826d ago

That's a solid comparison honestly. The check engine light thing is basically tech debt in car form - you tell yourself it's nothing until you're stuck paying way more than if you just looked at it day one. Small warnings are always trying to tell you something bigger is coming.

anthony88326d ago

Started ignoring the check engine light in my old Civic because it came on and off all the time. Figured it was just a loose gas cap or some sensor glitch. Then one day the car died in the middle of a highway ramp near the airport. Turned out the catalytic converter was completely clogged and the fix cost me $1,200. That's pretty much the same as skipping error handling in code. You think you're saving time by ignoring small warnings and edge cases until a tiny issue snowballs into a giant problem that takes way longer to fix. Now I treat every warning light and every random try-except like a signal I need to actually look at before it gets worse.