The Codeless Code: Case 165 Failsafe 
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 When the monk Landhwa was tasked with implementing a new
security layer for the Spider Clan’s applications, his
longtime enemy—the monk Wangohan—suspected that Landhwa’s
doom was finally at hand. For security demanded attention to
fine detail, and Landhwa was notoriously impatient and lazy.

Sure enough, when several applications were deployed into
production with Landhwa’s code, complaints began flooding
the help desk immediately. Users could not edit their
personal information or view their outstanding orders, and
ironically the “Contact Us” link returned a 403 Forbidden
page. Chaos ruled the morning.

Landhwa was summoned to an emergency conference of the
temple abbots. Wangohan idly wondered whether he would see
his rival again—and if so, in how many pieces.

It was therefore to Wangohan’s great surprise that Landhwa
reappeared within the hour, wearing the same irritating
smile as always.

Dismayed, Wangohan went to see the head abbot. “What
correction for Landhwa?” asked the monk.

“No correction,” said the abbot. “For when the error was
brought to his attention, he revealed a failsafe that he had
put in place. If a particular flag is set in the database,
Landhwa’s API will bypass the new security layer and use the
old layer instead. Now all is well, and we may investigate
the problem at our leisure without rolling back the entire
release.”

“Surely, this does not absolve the monk of negligence!”
protested Wangohan. “If he had coded more carefully or
tested more thoroughly, such a failsafe would not have been
needed!”

“That may be true,” said the head abbot. “But if there is
negligence here, there is also humility. When Wangohan
declares today I will be perfect, we praise his
determination but know that his cause is doomed. Landhwa not
only acknowledges his imperfection, he protects us from it.
But take heart! I am certain that, with a little effort, you
could someday learn to be as lazy as he.”