https://vacua.dev/tags/error-handling/Recent content in Error-Handling on Brian FaustHugoen-USMon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://vacua.dev/thoughts/silencing-an-error-does-not-protect-the-customer/Wed, 01 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000https://vacua.dev/thoughts/silencing-an-error-does-not-protect-the-customer/<p>A shipment-booking request returned without an error. The shipment appeared in the system, so the request looked successful. It had no label and no tracking number.</p> <p>Persistence had failed after the remote booking completed. A broad catch swallowed the exception, emitted no report or log, and continued. The code met one operational request—do not show customers errors—by returning an object which the customer could not use.</p> <p>The intent was reasonable. Customers prefer reliable bookings to error messages. But once the system can no longer produce the required result, silence does not create reliability. It converts a known failure into an ambiguous success and hands the investigation to the customer.</p>