Note on automation

A while back when I was working as an SRE. I’ve learned this one approach that has proven useful multiple times. Whenever I prototype something, even if it’s as simple as one liner in bash, I put it into the file, making it a script. In the process I’d usually prepare a few of the, trying my best to name them meaningfully, put up a concise readme and push them to some repo.

This way of working has saved me a lot of time in the meantime. When you prototype a thing you build up a lot of context in your head. Most of it evaporates quickly as soon as the service is up and running. When things go wrong, rebuilding the context takes a lot of your time.