# Why Testing a One-Line Bug Fix Can Take Nearly a Week

DevFeed: [Why Testing a One-Line Bug Fix Can Take Nearly a Week](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/the-story-of-the-one-line-fix-20835.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://dave.cheney.net/2020/12/15/the-story-of-the-one-line-fix>)

Author: Dave Cheney

Published: 2020-12-15T04:45:54Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Dave Cheney](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/dave-cheney.md>)

Topics: [bug](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/bug.md>), [test](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/test.md>), [Microservices](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/microservices.md>)

Tags: [bug](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/bug.md>), [code](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/code.md>), [database](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/database.md>), [function](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/function.md>), [microservices](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/microservices.md>), [object](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/object.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [small-ideas](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/small-ideas.md>), [state](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/state.md>), [test](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/test.md>), [tests](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tests.md>)

## AI overview

The article contrasts making a quick one-line bug fix with first creating a reproducible test. It argues that difficult setup, dependencies, object state, and test data can make validating a seemingly simple fix take nearly a week.

## Source excerpt

Picture yourself, an engineer working at the hottest distributed microservices de jour, assigned to fix a bug. You jump into an unfamiliar codebase and quickly locate the line where the problem occurred. The fix is simple, just return early or substitute a default value in the case that one cannot be determined from your input. [...]