The “Works on My Machine” Certification Program
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Summary (TL;DR)
The article is a satirical guide to a fake "Works on My Machine" application certification program. It jokes that developers can earn certification simply by compiling code, launching it, manually testing one simple code path (or skipping this step if the change is under five lines), and checking in. The badge is meant to be displayed proudly but with ego in check. The post then lists other unrelated posts on the blog, including one about gender diversity in programming and one about the drawbacks of physical books.
Joseph Cooney had a brilliant idea for a new application certification program. But Vista’s bland white-on-gray badge, in my opinion, doesn’t properly communicate the... authoritative... nature of said program. With the help of Jon Galloway, we zazzed things up a bit:
You might think attaining such a prestigious, rigorous level of certification would be far too challenging. But fear not! Participating in this innovative new application certification program is as simple as pressing the F5 key on your keyboard. Just follow the four easy steps Joseph outlined:
- Compile your application code. Getting the latest version of any recent code changes from other developers is purely optional and not a requirement for certification.
- Launch the application or website that has just been compiled.
- Cause one code path in the code you’re checking in to be executed. The preferred way to do this is with ad-hoc manual testing of the simplest possible case for the feature in question. Omit this step if the code change was less than five lines, or if, in the developer’s professional opinion, the code change could not possibly result in an error.
- Check the code changes into your version control system.
Congratulations! You’re fully certified. Brand your app with your shiny new Works on My Machine badge. You’ll certainly want to show it off to your fellow team members and key stakeholders. But please – do try to keep your ego in check. Not everyone is capable of such an epic commitment to quality in software engineering.
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