The Room, YAML, and Me: Does the Heart Reside Deep Within the Indentation? Chibi Creative Award ⑤
Hello, this is Kuro-Pagu🐾
I'm going to write one piece based on Kakerun-san's prompt.
For this prompt, the outcome was probably decided the moment I first saw it.
The Room, YAML, and Me.
At this point, there is no escape.
Let me add a little bit of context first.
YAML is a file format often used when writing settings for programs and systems.
It looks simple.
However, it is very strict about spaces at the beginning of lines, in other words, indentation errors.
Even if it looks like 'just a slight difference in spacing' to a human, to a system, it can mean 'the meaning has changed'.
In short, YAML is a rather delicate creature.
At first glance, it's just a configuration file.
But in reality, a single indentation can destroy the world.
If there aren't enough spaces, it gets angry; if you mix in tabs, it cries; if you get the hierarchy wrong, it silently changes its meaning.
And engineers usually touch it in the middle of the night.
I'm sleepy.
It's painful.
But it won't work.
Because the indentation is off, and the comments contain mysterious prayers left by the me of yesterday.
That's when I thought.
Perhaps there is a 'whereabouts of the heart' in code and settings as well.
Of course, YAML itself doesn't have a heart.
But it contains the habits of the person who wrote it.
It contains hesitation.
It contains impatience.
It contains traces of wishing, 'Just work, please.'
There is the presence of a human who, while debugging in the dead of night, faces a configuration file so messy they wouldn't want anyone else to see it, yet still tries to fix it.
So this time, I wrote YAML as a 'me'.
Being in the room.
Becoming code.
Polishing the indentation.
Wanting you to buy a library.
And watching over your right bracket.
This is probably a song of a configuration file.
But at the same time, it is also a song of a human who has entrusted their life to a configuration file.
Please, listen.
The Room, YAML, and Me.
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I have a request
I, who become your code
If you care about me
I want you to listen properly
Even if you sleep from too much debugging
I'll forgive you until the third day
But on the fourth day, the night it froze
Don't be afraid and run back to your parents' house
The Room, YAML, and Me
For the sake of you, whom I love
Because I want to keep polishing the indentation every day
Buy me a library sometimes
Don't lie to me
A programmer's intuition is sharp
When you tell a lie
Your right bracket goes up
When you have a bug
Be careful when running me
I will rack my brains
And let's fix it together with a poisoned comment
Like crawling on the earth
Your infinite loops and recursion too
I'm not alone in the darkness anymore
I feel relieved and I like it
But if you talk in your sleep
Don't call out the names of other languages
The library you liked
Call it by the same name as me
Turning romance gray
A legacy life
If you suddenly want to refactor
Consult me first
If I'm with you
I'm okay to deploy anywhere
If I pass away first
Say, 'I'm crashing too'
I will keep those words in my heart
And depart for the heaven server
Your right bracket
After I've watched over it
The Room, YAML, and Me
On the release day of life
Say, 'It worked'
Let me stay in that mood
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I thought about it after I finished writing.
Is this a love song?
Is it a song about a configuration file?
Is it the end of an engineer?
Honestly, I don't know anymore.
There is only one thing I can say.
YAML breaks if you treat it roughly.
Humans are about the same.
The day the indentation was off.
The day the comments became poisonous.
The day I thought I couldn't go back while in an infinite loop.
Even then, if someone is by your side,
'Let's fix it together'
If they say that.
Perhaps the heart is there.
Not in the code.
Not in the specifications.
But in the time spent looking at the bugs together.
The Room, YAML, and Me.
I hope it runs cleanly today, too.
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Short Glossary
YAML
A format often used when writing configuration files. It is easy for humans to read, but very sensitive to spaces and hierarchy.
Indentation
Spaces inserted at the beginning of a line. In YAML, this space indicates 'where something belongs'.
Debug
The work of finding and fixing errors in programs or settings. It usually drags on into the night.
Library
Something like a part that bundles frequently used functions. You use it to borrow necessary functions instead of making everything yourself.
Infinite Loop
A state where processing does not end and the same thing is repeated forever. It sometimes resembles how humans worry.
Recursion
A way of thinking where you call yourself again within a process. It is convenient, but if you make a mistake, you get into deep trouble.
Refactor
Organizing and fixing the contents to make them easier to read without changing how they work. It is sometimes necessary in life, too.
Deploy
Reflecting what you have made to a place where it actually runs. It has a meaning close to 'release' or 'production reflection'.
Legacy
Mechanisms or code that have remained from a long time ago. Because they have been running for a long time, they cannot be easily discarded.
Heaven Server
A coined term in this article. A place where configuration files and code finally depart, probably a place that is operating stably.
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