I was sucked into the vortex of social networking today and I ended up here. You look like a very talented guy. I specialize in placing IT pros in the Phila metro area. Please ping me if you ever want to look for a new technical position. The market is realy heating up. All the best, Rob 215.568.1513, robert.roath@rht.com

#2 I’m not so sure about. In the Java world, files flush when they are closed suddenly, unless the JVM itself crashes — and that is VERY rare these days; it essentially never happens with our files. Of course, this isn’t supposed to be a java-specific list, so given that I should probably list that one too.

Uniqueness of message – “we had an error” that appears in multiple places… Which specific chunk of code with that message was the one that created it? I’ve seen function name and/or unique error number be most effective. But if you’ve got multiple functions with the same name (object overloading) then it can become complex. And tracking unique error numbers, especially with shared code/object libraries can become complex.
Message buffering. This one only really matters if the application crashes rather than being able to exit gracefully when an error is detected/handled. I’m a strong proponent of the C fflush(); it could be handled as part of the error logging code/objects (your logger.X example) with a frequency count (every N messages) or semi-explicitly (after a type of invocation), or even manually.

Granted, frequent fflushes slows processing (forcing physical I/O rather than buffered into larger writes), but provides more information on failure.

Your last “Delayed String Construction” example reminds me a lot of the C printf statement… Except you used {} instead of %s%s%s%s%s.

Before long, one of the monkeys will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, all of the monkeys are sprayed with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result; all the monkeys are sprayed with cold water.

Pretty soon, none of the monkeys will try to climb the stairs.

Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack & restrain him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, then he will be assaulted.

Next, remove one of the original four monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is restrained by the group. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth.

Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is punished by the group.

Now, all of the monkeys, which are restraining each other, have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the restraint of the newest monkey. After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water.

Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that’s the way it’s always been done around here.

-Author Unknown