Oh Java my Java
2006-03-22 02:09:37.593712+01 by
meuon
3 comments
OK, So I'm no expert, but I earned my keep today playing with Java Servers.
Not by being a java code dude, and doing what they were doing, but by hooking up a sniffer
and actually capturing the communications between two servers, (one ours, one 'theirs') and finding that we were sending the wrong data, that I fixed it (in .java/.class files) and that after fixing it, verifying that it was right, that 'their' systems were STILL borken. It was all worth it when I sent the other guys both sides of the interserver communications (and related management) in an e-mail
(they are .net guys) and got a single 1 line e-mail back:
"How the F!!! did you get that?" and it reminded me why I enjoy working with people of various disciplines and backgrounds. They live/work in a monoculture, and 'sniffing' is a "hacker" thing, maybe a network weenie thing, and not a tool in a programmers arsenal for troubleshooting.
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comments in descending chronological order (reverse):
#Comment Re: made: 2006-03-22 18:59:20.459149+01 by:
radix
Heh. I've been doing sysad work for a long time, developing needed tools along the way. I've always had the attitude that anything I can compile and have permissions to run is a tool in my arsenal. I do get permission before running a) network scanners (nmap et al) and b) password decrypts. As I told a DBA who, when consulted about a query/report said "That's data *analyst* work", I'm a problem-solver. I debug everything.
radix
#Comment Re: made: 2006-03-22 05:18:41.727272+01 by:
Dan Lyke
Grins. Yep, had an office-mate who believed that you could write notYET![[Wiki]](/adbanners/lookingglass.png)
code without a network sniffer, 'til he got stumped on a really nasty one. Network sniffers are total necessities for web services code, especially on systems which try to hide as much from you as .NET does.
#Comment Re: made: 2006-03-22 02:49:48.671526+01 by:
Shawn
Depends on the programmer ;-)
I've used sniffers for troubleshooting on occasion, but I have to be careful at my current gig because the server guys have been known to come down hard on anybody "caught" running a sniffer of any kind.
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