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Well we already know Bill worked for Adobe and left, missing the chance to make it less crappy.
(Sorry if I've got the wrong person)
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Ah, that explains his status as a font of knowledge. Or at least that he gets paid by the letter.
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Indivara wrote: if I've got the wrong person
Well, all I can say is that in whatever context I am in I am always the "wrong person." Otherwise I wouldn't feel comfortable 
cheers, Bill
«There is a spectrum, from "clearly desirable behaviour," to "possibly dodgy behavior that still makes some sense," to "clearly undesirable behavior." We try to make the latter into warnings or, better, errors. But stuff that is in the middle category you don’t want to restrict unless there is a clear way to work around it.» Eric Lippert, May 14, 2008
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Hi Piebald,
A very fair "challenge."
Originally I included my own little story in this thread, but, I then deleted it because I just didn't feel right mentioning something that someone might just be able to link back to specific people I worked with at a certain company, who I am still friends with, so many years later. Now that I've thought that over for a while ... and even people I may have felt some "professional career injury" from ... well, those people have moved on ... none of us are the same.
Between you and I:
It involved a lay-off situation that developed after I made some complaints about a "higher-up" person's behavior (and non-behavior), and, involved my warning the folks who laid me off that doing so would delay launch of a major project that I (believe it or not) played a critical role in because of my very specialized skills (PostScript, color printing, color separation, etc.). The company involved ended up having to hire me back as a contractor, and I charged them a very high rate.
I anticipated this happening, and was careful to leave the company without creating any "public" kerfluffle: I kept my mouth shut. Still, I felt a little guilty, at times, that I was making so much money off the company's poor decision, but, I found drowning my sorrow in shopping ... worked to ease the pain
cheers, Bill
«There is a spectrum, from "clearly desirable behaviour," to "possibly dodgy behavior that still makes some sense," to "clearly undesirable behavior." We try to make the latter into warnings or, better, errors. But stuff that is in the middle category you don’t want to restrict unless there is a clear way to work around it.» Eric Lippert, May 14, 2008
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Well... in other words... I told you so! 
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I never regret, every mistake and every bug I make is unique and not unlike a previous one and I try to learn from them.
Other than that, I do not regret about people not listening. I know most people has their point of view and emotions to prevent logical thinking (I do, too), but warning people about mistakes is quite enough. If they listen - they learn, if they don't listen - they make a mistake and eventually learn. And learning is personal, it shouldn't be forced through conviction.
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Well there was that Agonising Death Ray I fitted in the ex's car that didn't go off .... 
I am not a number. I am a ... no, wait!
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BillWoodruff wrote: And you, have you ever had "technical regrets" ?
Yes. Not putting a back door into the ATM software. 
Marc
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Yes. But it is simply the regret of not putting people first! Which I do now!
We had a tight deadline, and the lead web developer was leaving early and supposedly
working from home. He kept saying he would meet the deadline, and I kept pushing because
I could see it slipping in slow motion.
Later he comes in, almost in tears, to tell me his wife has a medical condition and is bed-ridden,
and the 4 kids at home are his responsibility right now, and that there was no way we would make the
deadline.
I changed that day. I put the lives and welfare above the temporary and artificial deadlines.
I regret what the stress did to this guy and his family.
I regret not knowing, but more importantly, not creating an environment where he felt comfortable sharing his situation. (I was a "wee bit" of a hardaxx, admittedly).
In the end, we pulled together as a team, and it all worked out. I was doubly impressed with how the team joined in to help wherever they could.
After that, I regret the money I left on the table in a few transactions!
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After much thought, I think it's this one stupid memory leak I wrote on my first contract twenty years ago, it still nags at me.
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OK, that's lame. And the suggested solutions, "if-elif-elif-elif-else" or dictionaries or weird plugins are just gross.
That's all folks. Move along now.
Marc
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Yeah, else if would be okay though
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Quite. Can't stand elif. 
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Yeah, what are they trying to do? Save you three keyboard strokes in favor of a ridiculous non-existing word? Is that ridiculous word going to improve readability because it's just a little bit shorter?
It can be worse though. Haskell, a functional language that usually works with really short variable and function names (to the point where it becomes unreadable), uses otherwise instead of else. That's more than twice as many characters!
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elif? Don't talk to me about elif!
I am not a number. I am a ... no, wait!
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You do understand that Python is a joke? A bit like C++ but funnier.
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Could help but notice that elif possesses the phonetic beginning of elephant, so it makes sense...
It was broke, so I fixed it.
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Knowing python, they probably built a Case function, but it was so painfully slow that everyone begged them to take it out again.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Hi
One of my colleagues managed to get a ticket for Belgium v Ireland[^] on Saturday 18th of June, but he had completely forgotten that he is actually due to be getting married that day.
He'd put in for the fan ticket lottery and really didn't expect to get a ticket. Anyway - he asked around the office and I'm passing the offer on to anyone out there:- does anyone fancy getting married on Saturday week?
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That got me. Rare, that is.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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That was superb. 
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Don't tempt me! I've already had to stop myself replying to beautiful Russian girl who want sincere friendship tonight! After a jammed toaster and a small fire, the incident of the missing Vegemite, and streaming problems ruining my binge watch of The Tunnel I'm even more bloody fed up with the single life than I already was and that was very, very, very, very!
I am not a number. I am a ... no, wait!
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Surely, just the vegemite should make you fed up. Vegemite is like drinking alcohol free beer - pointless. Go get a jar of the real stuff - Marmite!
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Just Faarrrkkkk off.
Michael Martin
Australia
"I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible."
- Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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Vegemite is a marmite wannabe and you soft girlie ozzies eat that crap because you know no better as all descended from crims - I mean the name says it all "Vege"???.
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